The construction of shelterbelts along the desert highway has increased the carbon sequestration capacity of the Taklimakan Desert, China

Abstract

Human endeavors exert profound influences on the storage of carbon and the net primary productivity (NPP) of land, particularly in the environmentally sensitive arid territories. The Taklimakan Desert, known as the second largest migratory desert on Earth, necessitates an examination of the effects of the desert thoroughfare and its adjoining ecological windbreaks on carbon sequestration. This inquiry employed a myriad of data sources and harnessed the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST), Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA), and Patch-level Land Use Simulation Model (PLUS) methodologies to delve into the spatial and temporal metamorphosis and future outlook of the Taklimakan Desert in China over the past three decades. The findings reveal that grasslands serve as the preeminent carbon reservoir in the Taklimakan Desert, witnessing a surge of 16.31 tons over the previous 30 years. Of particular note, the ecological windbreaks encircling the desert highway have bolstered carbon storage by an added 0.15 tons from the completion of the road in 1996 to 2020. Moreover, following the establishment of the ecological windbreak in 2005, there has been a notable upsurge in the values of net primary productivity (NPP) within this locality. Looking towards the future, various prospective scenarios, especially those centered on ecological conservation, underscore an escalating carbon sequestration effect in the Taklimakan Desert. Concurrently, there is an augmentation in carbon retention linked to the desert thoroughfare. The prognostications of maximum, minimum, and mean NPP values from 2030 to 2100 exhibit substantial oscillations, delineating the intricate interplay between climatic shifts and human endeavors in shaping regional NPP. In sum, these revelations intimate that well-designed human undertakings have engendered an expansion of verdant domains within the desert, ultimately benefiting carbon capture in these parched terrains.