Successful Biological Methods for Combating Desertification at Degraded Areas of China - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 62

Main wind direction

First Stage

Second Stage

Third Stage

Fourth Stage

Fig. 3.9 Sand fixation and afforestation on shifting sand in Zhanggutai, Horqin sandy land,
Laoning, NE China

var. mongolica ) grove to form woodlands. Experience of Zhanggutai district,
Liaoning province, shows that measures for arresting mobile sand dunes include
the following: first, the belts of Artemisia halodendron saplings or the cuttings of
Salix gordejevii are planted on the middle-lower part of windward slope to prevent
wind erosion, or else, Lespedza dahurica or Caragana microphylla may be used for
the same purpose, then, sand-fixing plants should be cultivated when the dune top
is leveled off. After about 3 years when the sand surface is relatively stabilized it is
the high time to plant Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica between the shrubs or herbs
that are already established on the sand.
The shifting sand dunes in Zhanggutai district are transformed into the fixed
sand land of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica grove by the measures outlined above
(Fig. 3.9 ).

6 Suitable Biological Models for Protecting

Transportation Corridors

There are some railways and highways intersecting desert regions. In order to
guarantee operation of railway and highway communications in the desert, besides
selecting ideal routes, available measures should be taken to fix shifting sand.
Establishing a protective system in the form of “sand-stocking, sand-fixing and
sand-transporting” along the sides of road is usually adopted in the control of