The Impact of Human Activity on Desertification Dynamics in China: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

Desertification is a state shift to which global drylands are very sensitive. It has both human and climatic causes which are dependent on the region and time. China is a country which has large areas of dryland that are affected by desertification dynamics. To determine the extent to which human activities contribute to these dynamics in China, a meta-analysis is conducted with recent literature on desertification and its causes. There seems to be a general trend that human factors have a bigger influence on desertification expansion compared to climatic factors, while for reversion of desertification climatic factors are more important.