Spatiotemporal Patterns of Desertification Sensitivity and Influencing Factors Across the Western Inner Mongolia Plateau, China

Authors

Yang Chen, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University
Long Ma, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University
Xixi Wang, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Tingxi Liu, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University
Zixu Qiao, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

DOI

10.1016/j.ecoinf.2025.103190

Publication Title

Ecological Informatics

Volume

89

Pages

103190 (1-11)

Abstract

Desertification remains a critical global ecological and environmental challenge that threatens sustainable development. Although our understanding of desertification dynamics and their underlying drivers has improved, continued research is needed due to the region-specific nature of these processes. This study focuses on the Western Inner Mongolia Plateau in China as a case study to examine the evolution of desertification and its driving factors using a multifaceted approach, including the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) model. Results show that the desertification sensitivity index (DSI) across the plateau ranged from 1.12 in prairie regions to 1.87 in desert areas, with a spatial gradient decreasing from west to east. Overall, the DSI exhibited a declining trend over the study period, though some areas showed localized degradation. Between 2001 and 2020, the DSI decreased across approximately 64% of the plateau, with approximately 23% (primarily desert regions) experiencing a significant reduction. In contrast, 36% of the area, particularly the southeastern grasslands, saw an increase in DSI. Among the examined factors, seven—precipitation, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), leaf area index(LAI), drought resistance, erosion protection, fire risk, and land-use intensity—demonstrated high explanatory power greater than 0.6, highlighting their significant positive or negative impact on desertification. Additional factors such as temperature, sunshine duration, and potential evapotranspiration also influenced desertification, albeit to a lesser extent. Notably, interactions among these variables played a crucial role in shaping desertification trends. Addressing desertification, therefore, requires integrated strategies that account for the complex interplay of soil, climate, vegetation, and land management.

Rights

© 2025 The Authors.

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

Data Availability

Article states: "This study utilized both international and national datasets on soil, climate, vegetation, and management.

• The soil dataset was obtained from the Harmonized World Soil Database (Version 2.0), available at:

• The climate datasets were sourced from the following links:

• 1) Precipitation data

• 2) Temperature data

• 3) Potential evapotranspiration data

• 4) Sunshine duration data

• The vegetation datasets were sourced from the following links:

• 1) NDVI data

• 2) LAI data

• 3) Drought resistance, erosion protection, and fire risk data

• • The management datasets were sourced from the following links:

• 1) Population density data

• 2) Land use intensity data

Original Publication Citation

Chen, Y., Ma, L., Wang, X., Liu, T., & Qiao, Z. (2025). Spatiotemporal patterns of desertification sensitivity and influencing factors across the Western Inner Mongolia Plateau, China. Ecological Informatics, 89, 1-11, Article 103190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2025.103190

Repository Citation

Chen, Yang; Ma, Long; Wang, Xixi; Liu, Tingxi; and Qiao, Zixu, "Spatiotemporal Patterns of Desertification Sensitivity and Influencing Factors Across the Western Inner Mongolia Plateau, China" (2025). Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications. 145.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cee_fac_pubs/145