Hunshandake Sandy Land Research Articles

Investigating the components of the optically stimulated luminescence signals of quartz grains from sand dunes in China

The optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals from quartz consist of several physically distinct components, which are commonly referred to as fast, medium and slow components. In this study, the OSL components of quartz from the Taklimakan Desert and the Hunshandake sandy land in north China are investigated. Our results show that the relative contributions of OSL components to the bulk OSL signal can be significantly different among quartz grains from both deserts. Laboratory dosing, optical bleaching and heating experiments are used to test their effects on the relative contributions of quartz OSL components. It is found that cycles of dosing and optical bleaching have insignificant impact on the relative contributions of quartz OSL components, while heating to high temperature (500 °C) can significantly enhance the contribution of the fast component to the bulk OSL signals, especially for quartz samples from the Taklimakan Desert. Such results suggest that the different heating history of natural quartz grains plays an important role in controlling OSL components. Additionally, the quartz grains from the Hunshandake sandy land can easily be distinguished from those of the Taklimakan Desert, by using a ternary plot of fast-medium-slow components. The quartz grains from the Hunshandake sandy land exhibit a much stronger fast component than those from the Taklimakan Desert. This can be explained by that the quartz grains from the Hunshandake sandy land are mainly of igneous origin, while most of the quartz grains from the Taklimakan Desert are of low grade metamorphic origin.

High-resolution magnetic and palynological records of the last deglaciation and Holocene from Lake Xiarinur in the Hunshandake Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia

High-resolution mineral magnetic and pollen records from overlapping piston cores from Lake Xiarinur (42°37′N, 115°28′E) document detailed changes in environment and vegetation since the last deglaciation in the Hunshandake Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia. The formation of Lake Xiarinur commenced during the Bølling–Allerød warming, as reflected by an abrupt shift in sedimentary facies from eolian sands to lacustrine sediments at a core depth of 3.5 m (~14.1 cal. kyr BP). The pollen records demonstrate that desert vegetation with sparse herbs occurred before 14.1 cal. kyr BP, which was succeeded by meadow grassland vegetation from ~14.1 –13.3 cal. kyr BP (the Bølling -Allerød). A dramatic decrease in pollen concentration occurred between ~13.3 and 11.7 cal. kyr BP corresponding to the Younger Dryas. The remarkable increases in pollen and Pediastrum concentrations at ~11.7 cal. kyr BP suggest that the environment began to ameliorate, and the most humid conditions prevailed until ~8.5 cal. kyr BP. The maxima of magnetic concentration–dependent and magnetic-grain-size-dependent parameters, together with high pollen concentrations, between ~10 and 9 cal. kyr BP are interpreted as a brief interval of high annual precipitation. Our results indicate a stepwise decrease in effective moisture in the mid-Holocene and an accelerated drying trend in the late Holocene, characteristics typical of an East Asian summer monsoon–influenced region. The broad similarities between our data and other lake records from central-eastern Inner Mongolia, well-dated speleothem δ18O records from southern and central China, and summer insolation at 45°N, support the idea that vegetation and climate changes in the Hunshandake Sandy Land were controlled mainly by fluctuations in the response of the East Asian monsoon to Northern Hemisphere summer insolation.

Remote sensing monitoring of grassland vegetation growth in the Beijing–Tianjin sandstorm source project area from 2000 to 2010

Grassland is not only an important landscape of the Beijing–Tianjin sandstorm source control project area, but also a significant object of the Beijing–Tianjin sandstorm source control project. By taking the situation in 2000 as the base of comparison and using the established grassland vegetation growth model, the monitoring and evaluation of grassland vegetation dynamic variation in the project area from 2000 to 2010 was conducted based on MODIS 16 days NDVI data. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The comparative result of average growth between each year from 2001 to 2010 and the base year was on the good side in general; the grassland growth was good both in the early and later periods of grassland growth peak season than in the first years of the project implementation, indicating that the implementation of the Beijing–Tianjin sandstorm source project has significantly improved the growth conditions of grassland vegetation; (2) With regard to the annual dynamic variation of grassland growth, the area proportions of the grasslands, of which the average grassland growth was on the good side, fluctuated and increased slightly with the time changes in general. The area proportions of the grasslands, of which the average grassland growth was on the bad side, fluctuated and decreased in general. The area proportions of the grasslands with normal growth showed an increasing overall trend; (3) From the regional perceptive on four zones, including the northern arid grassland desertification control zone, Hunshandake sandy land control zone, the farming-pastoral area of desertified land control zone, and the water conservation zone of Yanshan hills and mountains, except that the grassland growth in the farming-pastoral area of desertified land control zone was bad, the average growth of other three zones was good each year from 2001 to 2010 compared with the base year. (4) In respect of space, the regions with big grassland growth variation in the project area were concentrated in the western and eastern sections of the northern arid grassland desertification control zone and the western section of Hunshandake sandy land control zone. The grassland growth variation in the water conservation zone of Yanshan hills and mountains and the farming-pastoral area of desertified land control zone were relatively stable. On one hand, the conclusions of this paper can evaluate the effectiveness of the project control, on the other hand, it can also provide scientific basics to grassland management departments, facilitate the rational utilization of grassland, and preserve the regional ecological balance.

Investigating the optically stimulated luminescence dose saturation behavior for quartz grains from dune sands in China

The optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals from quartz have been widely used to estimate the equivalent dose (De) of environment radiation after the deposition of mineral grains. However, the usage of quartz is often limited due to the lower saturation behavior compared with feldspar. Saturation limits among quartz (defining the upper dating range) vary significantly. It is important to better understand the reason for various dose saturation behaviors of the quartz OSL signals. In this study, coarse quartz grains were extracted from the Taklimakan Desert and the Hunshandake sandy land in north China and the dose saturation behavior of quartz OSL signals were studied. Our results suggest that the quartz grains produce very different aliquot-specific dose response curves, showing the significant variability in dose saturation characteristics for OSL signals. Laboratory dosing, optical bleaching and heating experiments were designed to simulate their effects on the dose saturation behavior for the quartz OSL. The results demonstrate that cycles of dosing and optical bleaching have insignificant impact on the OSL dose growth curves, while the heating to high temperature (above 400 °C) can significantly change the dose saturation characteristics for the quartz OSL. Such results suggest that the different heating history of quartz might be an important factor for the variability in dose saturation characteristics for OSL signals. Additionally, the quartz grains from the Hunshandake sandy land exhibit lower dose saturation level for OSL signals, compared with that from the Taklimakan Desert. This can be explained that the quartz grains from Hunshandake sandy land are mainly of igneous origin, while the quartz grains from Taklimakan Desert are mainly of metamorphic origin.

Environmental changes in Hunshandake (Otindag) sandy land revealed by optical dating and multi-proxy study of dune sands

A stabilized sand dune from the southern Hunshandake (Otindag) sandy land in northeastern China was studied for reconstructing past environmental changes by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, magnetic susceptibility and particle size analysis. The OSL dating results indicate that the sandy deposits at the bottom of the section formed at ∼11.8ka ago, corresponding to low magnetic susceptibility and low fractions of fine particles (<63μm). The variations of the two climate proxies suggest that the region was mainly influenced by arid climate. Above the bottom sand layer, there are loamy soils, which formed between ∼6.2 and ∼4.3ka ago. The soils have relatively higher magnetic susceptibility and finer grain size than the bottom sands. The climate of this period was relatively warm and humid, dominated by enhanced summer monsoon. During the late Holocene (from ∼4ka to present), Hunshandake was dominated by semi-humid to arid climate, as indicated by the aeolian sand beds and interbedded weak sandy soils.

Geochemical‐geomorphological Evidence for the Provenance of Aeolian Sands and Sedimentary Environments in the Hunshandake Sandy Land, Eastern Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract:Identifying the provenance of aeolian sediments in the Hunshandake Sandy Land is of great importance for understanding the formation of the dune fields in the mid‐latitudes and for deciphering information about desert's responses to global change. By determining the major and trace elements concentrations of aeolian sands in three grain size fractions from the central and western parts of the Hunshandake Sandy Land, we systematically study the provenance and the depositional history of aeolian sands in this desert environment Our results show that aeolian sands from the Hunshandake Sandy Land are enriched in SiO2 and are depleted in many other elements compared to those of the Upper Continent Crust (UCC). Variations of the immobile elements ratios like Zr/Hf, La/Yb, Th/Nb, La/Nb, LaN/YbN, GdN/YbN are relatively large in the coarse and medium fractions but minor in the fine fractions. Eu anomalies are quite different in the coarse fractions, but mostly positive in the medium fractions and all negative in the fine fractions. Decreasing tendency of Zr concentrations from the west to the east in the Hunshandake Sandy Land is evident in the coarse sands but rather weak in the fine grain size fractions. Our geochemical data indicate that the sources for the coarse and medium fractions of aeolian sands are diverse, influenced by local geology and geomorphology, while the fine sand fractions are more homogenous due to intensive mixture mainly by aeolian processes. Various ratios of immobile elements suggest that these sands should be sourced primarily from the surrounding mountains by fluvial/alluvial processes rather than from any remote territories. Aeolian sands with Ce negative anomalies are widely distributed in the Hunshandake Sandy Land, indicating that aquatic environments have occurred extensively prior to the occurrence of the dune field.

Initiation and variation of the dune fields in semi-arid China – with a special reference to the Hunshandake Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia

Sedimentary sequences occurring in desert dunes reflect changes in desert systems, and as such may contain signals useful for recognizing spatial and temporal changes of deserts and their response to regional or even global climate fluctuations. Geomorphological and palaeoenvironmental studies within the dune fields of the Asian middle-latitudes have provided some solid evidence for interpreting the history of these sand seas. Using the Hunshandake (Otindag) Sandy Land, a sandy area covered primarily by stabilized dunes and located in the semi-arid zone of eastern Inner Mongolia, China (Fig. 1), as an example, we studied the initiation and variation in the dune landscape in the eastern portion of the desert belt in northern China. On the basis of physical and biochemical indicators in the sediments and OSL chronology, we herein argue that this dune system in the middle latitudes of eastern Asia is much younger than previously assumed and that it has responded sensitively to climate change during the late Quaternary. Geological evidence from the Sandy Land suggests that most of the current dunes are of late Pleistocene or even Holocene age. Palaeosols intercalated in the aeolian sequences and their OSL chronology show that the climate of the Hunshandake was much wetter than today between 9.6 ka and 3 ka. This resulted in stabilization of the dunes in the eastern and central portions of the Sandy Land. Epochs of reworking or stabilization of the dunes are broadly consistent with the fluctuations in northern hemisphere solar radiation although with an obvious time lag. Because the increase rate of annual precipitation was not sufficient to fully stabilize the dunes in more arid part of the region, some active dunes persisted even during this long-lasting wetter epoch. We conclude that periods of Holocene dune stabilization due to palaeosol formation varied along the climate gradients across the various sandy lands of northern China, and in general it began earlier and lasted longer in the east than in the west. The general nature of the sandy lands and their counterparts in the western portion of the desert belt during the LGM and mid-Holocene climate optimum is discussed in comparison with their current states.

Relationship between the chemical index of weathering (CIW) of dune sand from the Hunshandake Sandy Land and climate conditions

Geomorphic and chronologic data for dune fields are evaluated for three contrasting areas of North America: 1) the Prairie, Parkland and Boreal ecozones of the northern Great Plains in Canada; 2) the Central Great Plains of the USA; and 3) the deserts of southwestern USA and northern Mexico. Luminescence and radiocarbon ages for periods of dune accumulation and stability are compared with palaeoenvironment proxies to provide an assessment of the boundary conditions of dune system response to changes in sediment supply, availability, and mobility.Dune fields in the northern Great Plains were formed from sediment originating from glaciofluvial or glaciolacustrine sediments deposited during deglaciation 16–11 ka. Subsequent aeolian deposition occurred in Parkland and Prairie dune fields as a result of mid-Holocene (8–5 ka) and late-Holocene (<3.5 ka) activity related to drought conditions that reworked pre-existing aeolian sands. In the Central Great Plains, many dune fields are closely linked to fluvial sediment sources. Sediment supply was high during deglaciation of the Rocky Mountains and resulted in widespread dune construction 16–10 ka. Multiple periods of Holocene reactivation are recorded and reflect increased sediment availability during drought episodes. Dune fields in the southwestern deserts experienced periods of construction as a result of enhanced supply of sediment from fluvial and lacustrine sources during the period 11.8–8 ka and at intervals during the late Holocene centered on 1.5, 0.7, 0.4, 0.3, and 0.2 ka.Despite spatial and temporal gaps in chronometric data as a result of sampling biases, the record from North American dune fields indicates the strong influence of sediment supply on dune construction, with changes in sediment availability as a result of drought episodes resulting in dune field reactivation and reworking of pre-existing sediment.

Holocene intensification of the East Asian summer monsoon: timing and mechanism

A stabilized sand dune from the southern Hunshandake (Otindag) sandy land in northeastern China was studied for reconstructing past environmental changes by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, magnetic susceptibility and particle size analysis. The OSL dating results indicate that the sandy deposits at the bottom of the section formed at ∼11.8 ka ago, corresponding to low magnetic susceptibility and low fractions of fine particles (<63 μm). The variations of the two climate proxies suggest that the region was mainly influenced by arid climate. Above the bottom sand layer, there are loamy soils, which formed between ∼6.2 and ∼4.3 ka ago. The soils have relatively higher magnetic susceptibility and finer grain size than the bottom sands. The climate of this period was relatively warm and humid, dominated by enhanced summer monsoon. During the late Holocene (from ∼4 ka to present), Hunshandake was dominated by semi-humid to arid climate, as indicated by the aeolian sand beds and interbedded weak sandy soils.

Initiation and variations of the dune fields in the eastern portion of the middle-latitude desert belt in Asia – with a special reference to the Hunshandake Sandy Land in eastern Inner Mongolia, China

Initiation and variations of the dune fields in the eastern portion of the middle-latitude desert belt in Asia – with a special reference to the Hunshandake Sandy Land in eastern Inner Mongolia, China

Effects of groundwater decline on photosynthetic characteristics and stress tolerance of &lt;I&gt;Ulmus pumila&lt;/I&gt; in Hunshandake Sandy Land, China

Effects of groundwater decline on photosynthetic characteristics and stress tolerance of &lt;I&gt;Ulmus pumila&lt;/I&gt; in Hunshandake Sandy Land, China

Monitoring Vegetation Cover Change in East Hunshandake Sandy Land with Landsat TM and ETM+ and Its Possible Causes

The mid-latitude arid and semi-arid area is one of the major surface types in China, and is facing the serious desertification hazard. Landsat Thematic Mapper data were used in this paper to monitor the vegetation cover change in east part of the Hunshandake sandy land, a semi-arid region in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Combined with the monthly rainfall and air temperature data, the possible affecting factors are discussed. The NDVI in middle September are 0.47, 0.67, 0.65 and 0.33 in 1987, 1996, 1998 and 2001, respectively, which highly correlated both with the annual mean rainfall and precipitation of July and August, indicating moisture is one of the most important factors affecting vegetation condition in arid and semi-arid region. The air temperature shows little effect on NDVI, but the region with higher NDVI often associatted lower radiative temperature derived from TM band 6. There are some area showed vegetation degradation which could not be recovered in a short time of period, most of them located in poor vegetated areas. And the degraded area is increasing from 1996 (3.8%) and to 1998 (6.0%). The vegetation condition shows improvement in 2001, and this may be associated with the effort made by Chinese government to improve the ecological and environment situation of this region. This indicates that anthropogenic activities is another improtant factor affecting the NDVI in arid and semi-arid regions, especially in the ecologically more sensitive areas.

On the application of DInSAR to deformation monitoring in desert areas

The DInSAR technique is used for monitoring the desert height changes to study sandstorms. Hunshandake Sandy Land, as the test area, is one of the main sources of sandstorms in Beijing. In order to study the sandstorm source and its impact, a pair of EnviSat ASAR images of Oct. 11, 2005, and Oct. 26, 2004, is processed on the basis of analysis of six ERS-2 and EnviSat radar images. After the image configuration, flat earth effect correction, data filtering, phase unwrapping, and geo-coding, a deformation model over Hunshandake desert is built. According to the results, the height decreased in most areas and increased in a few areas, which basically coincides with the strong sandstorm appearing in Beijing in the Spring of 2005. The results show DInSAR has an important role in monitoring of desert surface deformation.

Differentiation and population subdivision in Picea mongolica based on microsatellite analyses

Picea mongolica is distributed exclusively in the eastern edge of the fixed sand dunes in Hunshandake Sandy Land, China. In this area, three groups of P. mongolica can be identified by their predominant fruit colours (purple, red and green). In this study, we used seven polymorphic microsatellites to investigate the level of genetic variation and differentiation among these groups. A significant level of genetic differentiation was detected in pairwise group comparisons. Pairwise FST values ranged from 0.019 to 0.028, indicating, however, a level of similarity among the groups higher than that observed in other species of the Picea genus. Cluster analysis indicated that the three groups analyzed here derived from a single gene pool. We propose that moisture differences in the sand dunes may lead to the observed differentiation in P. mongolica populations, which may be accelerated by habitat fragmentation. The observed genetic differentiation among the three groups of P. mongolica supports their classification as three different ecotypes, namely Picea mongolica f. purpurea, Picea mongolica f. rubra, and Picea mongolica f. viridis.

Advances and Problems in the Understanding of Desertification in the Hunshandake Sandy Land during the Last 30 Years

Located in the northern margin of East Asian summer monsoon,Hunshandake Sandy Land is well-known for its ecologically vulnerable characteristics,and its desertification processes are concerned by both public and scientific communities.In this paper,we reviewed studies of the desertification in Hunshandake Sandy Land during the last 30 years.The current inconsistencies of understanding the desertification in this region were discussed in detail,regarding processes,causes and future trends.It shows that investigations on desertification processes are not thorough yet although a large number of publications are available.Different perspectives on the concept of desertification and differences in the selections of research materials and assessment indexes cause the discrepancies about the view on desertification degree and rate in Hunshandake Sandy Land.Combination of high resolution remote sensing and comprehensive field investigations is needed to unveil the complex ecological processes of sandy land.The system for monitoring desertification processes should be developed from these studies.Desertification in the Hunshandake Sandy Land is originated from interactions between human activity and climate changes,and uncertainties in desertification processes studies lead to the confusion about the causes of desertification.To distinguish between climate and human-induced desertification,a clear understanding of desertification processes,especially further investigations on feedback,coupling effects and threshold of sandy land system and effects of extreme events on desertification,are required.Desertification is likely to proceed in Hunshandake Sandy Land as a consequence of global warming.And improving the spatio-temporal accuracy of assessing dune activity in the future is not only a significant but also a challenging work for scientists to accomplish.

Vegetation change based on SPOT-VGT data from 1998 to 2007, northern China

Dynamic change of vegetation in northern China from 1998–2007 was explored, based on SPOT-VGT data. The results showed that the NDVI can effectively monitor vegetation change, but also the mean multi-year NDVI maximum of 0.10 basically can be considered as the threshold of vegetation cover in northern China, and those places with smaller than or equal to the threshold value mainly were covered by deserts, Gobi and lakes, salinization lands, glaciers, snow patches and bare mountains, etc. The change trends of vegetation where sub-region C and D were affected by east-Asia monsoon were similar with the characteristics of first decreasing, later increasing and finally slowly decreasing; the difference lies in that sub-region C maintained a lower vegetation state, and sub-region D reached a higher state. The vegetation change of sub-region A was anomalous with smaller fluctuation. The change trend of vegetation of sub-region B was not only extremely unstable, but also the change extent was huge. As far as the whole of northern China is concerned, vegetation has not demonstrated obvious improvement since these ecological construction and protection projects, and the area of vegetation degradation still is much larger than that of vegetation improvement from 1998 to 2007, but there was a bigger spatial difference. Field investigation and remote sensing monitoring reveal that vegetation has obviously been improved in the agro-grazing mixing zone and to the south, as well as many oases in the northwestern arid zone, while vegetation still has worsened in the steppes, especially the Ulanqab steppe, Hunshandake Sandy Land, the region along the Sino–Mongolia border within Xilingol Meng, Hulunbeir Sandy Land and the northern Tianshan mountain region in Xinjiang. Human activities only obviously showed success in local regions. The compelling challenges of restoring the eco-environment are still immense, especially in the northern grazing zone of China.

Isotopic evidences for provenance of East Asian Dust

We have systematically collected samples in the possible source regions (the deserts and sandy lands of North China, northeastern past of the Tibetan Plateau, Chinese Loess Plateau and southern part of Mongolia) of the East Asian dust. Based on Nd–Sr isotopic ranges, the source regions can be divided into four isotopic regions: Region A1: the Gurbantunggut Desert in Junggar basin and Hunlun Buir sandy land in northeastern China; Region A2: the Hunshandake sandy land, Horqin sandy land and southern part of Mongolia; Region B: the Taklimakan Desert in Tarim basin, northeastern past of the Tibetan Plateau, Chinese Loess Plateau, Badain Jaran Desert and Tengger Desert in Alashan Plateau; Region C: the Hobq Desert and Mu Us Desert in the Ordos Plateau. Through comparison of Nd–Sr isotopes, it can be inferred that the sediments of the north-central Pacific and dust particles in the Greenland ice cores are mainly derived from Region B. Dusts of East Asian dust storm are derived mostly from Region B also, and less from Region A2. The materials of dust storm at Beijing area in April 2006, originated largely from the Hobq Desert and Mu Us Desert in the Ordos Plateau. The floating dust at Beijing area in April 2006, is the mixing of dust of distant deserts and local dust at Beijing area. Loess of the Chinese Loess Plateau may largely originate from Region B.

Oxygen isotopic compositions of quartz in the sand seas and sandy lands of northern China and their implications for understanding the provenances of aeolian sands

A better understanding of aeolian sand provenance in deserts would be useful for studying interactions between various Earth surface processes occurring in arid and semiarid regions. In this study we examined oxygen isotopic compositions of quartz in sand samples taken from Taklamakan and Badain Jaran deserts of northwestern China and from the Hunshandake and Hulunbeier sandy lands in northeastern China. Typical fractions of grain sizes were chosen for examination. Sample preparation followed the chemical principals described in geochemistry and final measurements were performed with mass spectrometers. In the sands from the Badain Jaran Desert the δ 18O value is generally low, with a mean of 12.1‰ in the coarse fraction (0.200–0.250 mm) and a mean of 13.2‰ in the fine fraction (0.125–0.154 mm). The sands of the Taklamakan Desert show a mean δ 18O value of 15.4‰ in the main grain size fraction 0.064–0.150 mm. In contrast, the mean δ 18O values in all grain size fractions of sand samples from the Hunshandake Sandy Land and from the Hulunbeier Sandy Land are much lower, varying between 6.8‰ and 9.9‰. The outcome established a preliminary database about δ 18O distributions in quartz sands throughout China's large deserts and sandy lands. The results show regional differences between each of the sand seas and sandy lands, indicating different provenances of the aeolian sands. Further detailed comparison of the δ 18O values between the deserts and loess stratigraphy in the Loess Plateau would provide information about changes in areas of loess sources and evidence of palaeocirculation.

Late Quaternary environmental changes and organic carbon density in the Hunshandake Sandy Land, eastern Inner Mongolia, China

Knowledge about changes of regional carbon density during late Quaternary is of great significance for understanding regional and global carbon cycles. Taking the Hunshandake Sandy Land, located in eastern Inner Mongolia of China as an example, this paper aims to reconstruct Late Quaternary environmental changes, and then to discuss the fluctuations of organic carbon density and storage in the desert environment of northern China. The study area with a mean annual precipitation ca. 300 mm is characterized by the occurrence of fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes reaching a maximal height of 30 m. The research methods included field observations, examinations of grain sizes, as well as carbon and calcium carbonate contents of the sediment samples. The chronology is based on Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating and radiocarbon analyses. This work reveals that the organic carbon density in the surface layer of the Hunshandake Sandy Land changed between at least 2500 g/m 2 during the Holocene Climatic Optimum and 1500 g/m 2 when aeolian processes dominate. The dune construction was restricted by periglacial processes during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The Holocene Climatic Optimum, indicated by extensive formation of kastanozem soils, occurred between 5 ka and 3 ka in the study area. Although desertification might cause a 40% loss of total organic carbon storage within several dozen of years in the study area, a considerable amount of this carbon was re-deposited in the regions of downwind directions.

A new approach to the fight against desertification in Inner Mongolia

The world's arid and semi-arid regions are severely affected by desertification. In China, wind erosion, water erosion, soil salinization and the freezing and melting processes have contributed to 2.64 million km2 of desertified land, covering 27.5% of the country's land surface (State Forestry Administration, Peoples' Republic of China 2005). Although climate change could be a reason for desertification, anthropogenic factors such as overgrazing and overcultivation also contribute to degradation in grassland areas (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005; Zheng et al. 2006). The Chinese government has adopted afforestation as the main measure to control desertification. Major projects, including the ‘Three North Shelterbelt Programme’ (also known as the ‘Green Great Wall’) and the ‘Sandstorm Source Control Project around Beijing and Tianjin’, are necessary to shield northern and eastern agricultural ecosystems against sand and dust (Zhou 2002). However, these countermeasures require substantial effort and investment, and, in the semi-arid and arid regions of Inner Mongolia, newly planted trees have often died of drought, while tree planting could also be responsible for exhausting the precious groundwater resources of these regions (Jackson et al. 2005). Alternative and more practical ways of combating desertification by using multi-disciplinary approaches observing both social and ecological principles are required. The Hunshandake Sandy Land restoration demonstration project conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences was an attempt to restore desertified grassland mainly through natural processes, and requiring limited investment.