Carbon cycle in sandy ecosystems： major research advances of the Naiman Desertification Research Station from 1985 to 2025
Received date: 2025-05-21
Revised date: 2025-06-16
Online published: 2025-08-18
The Horqin Sandy Land is a typical area of land desertification evolution in the semi-arid grassland region of northern China. It is a core area for national efforts to control desertification and studying the terrestrial ecosystem's carbon cycle in response to global changes. The Naiman Desertification Research Station， located in the southwestern part of the Horqin Sandy Land and established by the Chinese Academy of Sciences， is a long-term observation and research platform. It is dedicated to preventing and controlling land desertification in the northern agro-pastoral transition zone. This paper reviews four decades of the station's research on carbon cycling in the Horqin Sandy Land， with a focus on the following four areas： ①the carbon content and storage dynamics in the plant-soil systems， ②the soil respiration characteristics， ③the ecosystem carbon flux evolution， and ④the carbon sequestration effects of ecological restoration. This research reveals changes in vegetation and soil carbon pools during both desertification progression and reversal， clarifies the spatiotemporal patterns of regional-scale soil organic carbon and its driving mechanisms， and determines the response thresholds of soil respiration to temperature and moisture alongside shifts in the contribution ratios of its components across different habitats. It also identifies the dominant factors controlling the variability of the carbon sink function in diverse ecosystems over time， based on long-term flux observations， and quantifies the carbon sequestration rates and potential of various ecological restoration measures， elucidating their underlying mechanisms. These findings are profoundly significant in deepening our understanding of the pathways， processes， and mechanisms involved in carbon sequestration and sink enhancement through ecological restoration in semi-arid sandy regions. They also provide crucial scientific support and practical guidance for the precise implementation of China's dual-carbon strategy （carbon peaking and carbon neutrality） in ecologically fragile areas.
Yuqiang Li , Chengzhuo Zheng , Yu Xiang , Yayi Niu , Xuyang Wang , Xiaoming Mou . Carbon cycle in sandy ecosystems： major research advances of the Naiman Desertification Research Station from 1985 to 2025[J]. Journal of Desert Research, 2025 , 45(4) : 34 -42 . DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00098
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