Human Driving Forces of Oasis Expansion in Northwestern China During the Last Decade—A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin

Abstract

Water scarcity is one of the most prominent issues worldwide in relation to sustainable development, especially in arid areas. To gain a better understanding of the trade-off between improving agricultural productivity and maintaining the stability of an oasis ecosystem in these areas, this study took the Heihe River Basin in northwestern China as a case to explore the changes in oasis dynamics and their human driving forces. The results showed that along with the 11·0% expansion of agricultural land, the total water demand for irrigation increased by 6·3% during 2000-2010. Although tremendous economic incentives for farmers spurred the oasis expansion and cropping system changes, the key driving force behind the oasis expansion in the study area was closely related to sufficient irrigation water guaranteed by new water sources (excessive consumption of groundwater and surface water) and water conservation efforts that were the results of the "water-saving society" project (cropping system adjustments and technological improvements in irrigation). This loose regulation of water resource management can be considered to be partially attributable to the ignorance of the ecological value of water resources. Sustainable land use in the study area can only be achieved through the strict regulation of the management of surface water and groundwater resources throughout the basin and the invisible water provided by the water conservation measures.

Assessment of Soil Suitability for Improvement of Soil Factors and Agricultural Management

“…At the global scale, Africa is highly affected by desertification, with over 45% of the land exposed to this process [12]. This issue calls for the urgent improvement of agricultural practices and water use efficiency [13] in order to reduce environmental problems and prevent further degradation [14]. Irrigation is often used to alleviate water scarcity, and often inappropriate irrigation practices induce soil salinization and soil sodicity, which are major causes of land degradation [15].…”

Quantifying the effects of human activities and climate variability on vegetation cover change in a hyper‐arid endorheic basin

“…Recognizing the impacts of natural climate and human activities on the regional vegetation cover changes since 2000 is critical to provide support for decision making in line with long-term strategies for environmental protection. Vegetation cover changes in the oasis areas have been deeply affected by the expansion of irrigated agriculture as well as climatic factors (Zhou, Wang, & Shi, 2017) Both natural and socioeconomic factors, including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, temperature and precipitation, were found to substantially explain the driving mechanisms of vegetation cover changes in the middle HRB by using an extended environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) model (Zhou et al, 2015). However, the quantitative contributions of climate change and human activities to regional vegetation cover changes in the middle HRB are still unknown.…”

Assessing water distribution and agricultural expansion in the Cele Oasis, China

“…In arid regions, small changes in climate can have dramatic and sometimes devastating effects on oasis structure and stability, especially when mixed with anthropogenic factors (Xu et al 2004(Xu et al , 2006Chen et al 2007;Hao and Xu 2008;Lyu et al 2016). The devolving of oases from their natural state into meccas of agricultural production has strained the finite water resources, in some cases to an extreme that the propagation of downstream effects has resulted in detrimental loss to desert oasis habitats (Xu et al 2006;Chen et al 2007;Zhou et al 2016). The appeal to increase the economic gain by expansion of oasis agricultural production diminishes oasis sustainability, thereby necessitating the determination of available water resources and their allocation (Ling et al 2013;Gao et al 2018).…”