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FOR 536 P9: Regional identification of sensitive areas for wind-driven matter fluxes and quantification of wind-driven matter fluxes across ecosystem boundaries
Project
Project code: DFG FOR 536
Contract period: 01.01.2004
- 01.01.2016
Purpose of research: Basic research
Wind erosion is the main degradation problem of the soils in the Inner Mongolia steppe, mainly caused by overgrazing. The influences of grazing intensity on the basic processes of wind erosion and dust deposition were investigated in the first phase of MAGIM. Grazing intensity influences the height and density of vegetation, which is the definitive control factor whether wind erosion or dust deposition occurs. In general, the dust depositions in the study site were higher than losses by wind erosion.
The second phase will be focused on the relationships between source and sink areas on the catchment scale based on a GIS-based structure analysis using remote sensing data. Measurements of the relevant processes of wind driven matter fluxes will be carried out at ecosystem boundaries along transects, where distinct changes of surface conditions appear. The outcome of this analysis - spatially distributed land use / vegetation parameters, terrain and soil attributes and their relationship to the mobilization or deposition of soil material - will be used to develop a model for wind erosion at landscape scale. At selected neighboring source and sink areas subscale wind-driven matter fluxes across the ecosystems / land units boundaries will be quantified by looking at actual process dynamics (hourly time scale) and spatial distribution of effective topsoil parameters representing longer time scales (years to decades).
Section overview
Subjects
- Agricultural Meteorology
- Agroecology
- Soil science