Ecological policies enhanced ecosystem services in the Hunshandak sandy land of China

Since 2000, the Chinese government has implemented a series of ecological restoration policies to combat ecological degradation and land desertification in drylands. However, it remains unclear whether ecosystem services (ES) in drylands have improved since then. To this end, we analyzed the long-term trends (2000-2020) of four ES (NPP, sandstorm prevention, soil retention, and water retention) and the associated drivers in the Hunshandak sandy land of Inner Mongolia by using multi-scale trend analysis. We found that: (1) all the four ES types, including NPP, soil retention, sand prevention, and water retention showed increasing trends, with Zhenglan banner and Kashiketeng banner showing the most significant growth. (2) The changes in ES showed significant spatial heterogeneity, with 54%, 18%, and 53% of the total area still being degraded for NPP, sandstorm prevention, soil retention, and water retention, respectively. The degradation hotspots of ES are mainly located in Sunit Left Banner, Sunit Right Banner, Zhengxiangbai Banner, and Duolun County. (3) Both the conversion of sandy land into grassland due to ecological policies and the improvement of climatic conditions contributed to the enhancement of ES in this region. Our results indicate that ecological restoration policies have improved ES in the Hunshandak Sandy Land, but the effects of the policies show regional unevenness. Future ecological restoration policies should pay more attention to areas with a decreasing trend of ES and to the problem of overgrazing in fragile pastoral areas.

Automated summary

Since 2000, the Chinese government has implemented ecological restoration policies in drylands, resulting in improved ecosystem services. However, the effectiveness of these policies varies across regions, and future efforts should focus on areas with declining trends and overgrazing issues.