Abstract

The recent economic progress in China has stimulated scientific research in sandy lands in Inner Mongolia, where the Institute of Desert Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (now CAREERI) has a leading position. Economic progress naturally creates financial resources for research, and also a dire need for solutions to emerging environmental problems following development, where wind-blown dust from Inner Mongolia adds to the severe particle air pollution in many Chinese cities. This paper presents selected results and observations made during Chinese-Swedish cooperation projects spanning 25 years. Results and experiences from sandy land research concerning climate, vegetation, root dynamics, soil carbon balances, etc. are briefly presented. The evolution of the Naiman Desertification Research Station, 520 km northeast of Beijing, from 1988 to 2013 is duly noted and commented. An overview of the ICBM soil carbon model concept follows and a few recommendations for future scientific advancement in Chinese arid lands are given.

Keywords

Inner Mongolia; steppe; vegetation; sandy land; soil carbon; review

Published in

Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions
2016, Volume: 8, number: 1, pages: 1-8

SLU Authors

• Kätterer, Thomas

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bolinder, Martin

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable


UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science
Agricultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.372/SP.J.1226.2016.00001

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/76272