Damage by wind-blown sand and its control measures along the Taklimakan Desert Highway in China  

作　　者：LI Congjuan WANG Yongdong LEI Jiaqiang XU Xinwen WANG Shijie FAN Jinglong LI Shengyu 

机构地区：[1]National Engineering Technology Research Center for Desert-Oasis Ecological Construction,Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Urumqi 830011,China [2]Taklimakan Desert Research Station,Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Korla 841000,China [3]Xinjiang Agricultural University,Urumqi 830052,China

出　　处：《Journal of Arid Land》2021年第1期98-106,共9页干旱区科学（英文版）

基　　金：This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31971731,41771121);the Xinjiang National Key Research and Development Program(2019B00005);the National Key Research and Development Program(2017YFC0506705);the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences(2017476).

摘　　要：Desertification is one of the most serious environmental problems in the world,especially in the arid desert regions.Combating desertification,therefore,is an urgent task on a regional or even global scale.The Taklimakan Desert in China is the second largest mobile desert in the world and has been called the''Dead Sea''due to few organisms can exist in such a harsh environment.The Taklimakan Desert Highway,the longest desert highway(a total length of 446 km)across the mobile desert in the world,was built in the 1990s within the Taklimakan Desert.It has an important strategic significance regarding oil and gas resources exploration and plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of southern Xinjiang,China.However,wind-blow sand seriously damages the smoothness of the desert highway and,in this case,mechanical sand control system(including sand barrier fences and straw checkerboards)was used early in the life of the desert highway to protect the road.Unfortunately,more than 70%of the sand barrier fences and straw checkerboards have lost their functions,and the desert highway has often been buried and frequently blocked since 1999.To solve this problem,a long artificial shelterbelt with the length of 437 km was built along the desert highway since 2000.However,some potential problems still exist for the sustainable development of the desert highway,such as water shortage,strong sandstorms,extreme environmental characteristics and large maintenance costs.The study aims to provide an overview of the damages caused by wind-blown sand and the effects of sand control measures along the Taklimakan Desert Highway.Ultimately,we provide some suggestions for the biological sand control system to ensure the sustainable development of the Taklimakan Desert Highway,such as screening drought-resistant species to reduce the irrigation requirement and ensure the sound development of groundwater,screening halophytes to restore vegetation in the case of soil salinization,and planting cash crops,such as Cistanche,Wolfberry,Ap

关 键 词：wind-blown sand sand barrier fences artificial shelterbelt mechanical sand control measure biological sand control measure sustainable development Taklimakan Desert Highway 

分 类 号：P931.3[天文地球—自然地理学] U419.91[交通运输工程—道路与铁道工程]