Arid Zone Research ›› 2023, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (2): 268-279.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2023.02.11

• Ecology and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Benefit evaluation of wind prevention and sand fixation under the combined measures of sand barrier in mobile dunes in Mu Us sandy land

SHI Lin1(),LI Hongyue2,ZHAO Yuxing1,REN Yuyan1,HE Jinjun1,YU Fengqaing3,Eerdun Hasi4()   

  1. 1. Ordos Research Institute of Forestry and Grassland Science, Ordos 017010, Inner Mongolia, China
    2. Beijing Guangqumen Middle School, Beijing 100001, China
    3. Ordos forestry and Grassland Development Center, Ordos 017010, Inner Mongolia, China
    4. School of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geographic Sciences Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
  • Received:2022-06-24 Revised:2022-11-28 Online:2023-02-15 Published:2023-03-08

Abstract:

The benefits of wind and sand control under the combined measures of sand-fixing plant species with regenerative sand barriers of Salix mongolica, polylactic acid (PLA) sandbags, and straw rope sand barriers in the Mu Us sandy land was studied. The wind speed, near-surface sand transport, and erosion pattern inside the barrier were measured at different heights under various combinations of measures, and the benefits of several sand barrier and combined measures under different materials, slope positions, and specifications were compared and analyzed. The results showed wind speed reduction was highest for the 1 m × 1 m S. mongolica regenerative sand barrier and straw rope sand barrier (up to 80.29% and 78.49%). The effectiveness of wind prevention for the 3 m × 3 m combination of straw rope and PLA sand barriers was 58.14% and 57.88%, respectively. The reduction rate of sand transport was as follows: S. mongolica > straw rope > PLA, and the trend increased with the specification. The sand-blocking effect of S. mongolica regeneration sand barrier combined measures is more stable, while the other two measures are less stable. The microtopography inside the barrier is mainly controlled by the wind direction from NW to NNW under various measures, and the morphological characteristics varies with the type of sand barrier material. The overall erosion is dominant, and the relative depth of erosion in the barrier is the largest for straw rope sand barriers combination, and the PLA barrier is the next, and the S. mongolica regeneration sand barrier is weakly eroded in the range of -10-5 cm, but the relative depth of erosion decreases with the increase of specification and slope. Comprehensive analysis shows that the artificial sand fixation vegetation system of Salix mongolica sand barrier combined with sowing sand fixation plant species is the most stable, with the best benefit of wind prevention and sand fixation, and is a more suitable mobile sand dune sand barrier in Mu Us sandy land. It is a more suitable technical measure for flowing dune sand barriers to promote vegetation restoration in Mu Us sandy land. The other measures can be appropriately adopted according to the difficulty of obtaining sand barrier materials, transportation conditions, quicksand environment, and control.

Key words: mobile dune, sand barrier, combined measures, windbreak and sand fixation, Mu Us sandy land