%0 Dataset
%T desert afforestation
%J Arid Land Ecology and Resources Science Data Center
%I Arid Land Ecology and Resources Science Data Center(data.dcxjegi.cn)
%U https://data.dcxjegi.cn/portal/metadata/90200779-1e92-454d-a431-72eb8a792122
%W NCDC
%R 10.12389/ariddc.02226
%A Documentation Information Center
%K Protection forest construction;Desert forestry improvement
%X The concepts of “desert,” “desert zone,” and “desert region” have not yet been defined with sufficient precision. Nevertheless, most scientists agree that deserts are not lifeless areas. They are inhabited by a great diversity of organisms, including not only lower forms of life but also higher plants, reptiles, and large mammals. Human beings also live and actively carry out economic activities in deserts. Deserts are generally classified into northern deserts, southern deserts, and high-mountain deserts. This book deals with afforestation in southern deserts. These deserts are characterized by large fluctuations in air and surface temperatures, low precipitation (less than 300 mm annually), low relative humidity, and the highest levels of heat and solar radiation.Forests are also found in deserts, although they are highly distinctive: sparse, low-growing, and providing little shade. The principal forest-forming species are white saxaul (Haloxylon persicum) and black saxaul (Haloxylon aphyllum). For example, in the deserts of Uzbekistan, white saxaul forests cover 1.274 million hectares, while black saxaul forests occupy 369,600 hectares. White saxaul forests are particularly extensive in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The assimilating shoots of white saxaul contain up to 20.3% crude protein, 14.1% digestible protein, 2.6% fat, and as much as 60.8% cellulose. The productivity of desert saxaul stands is relatively low, amounting to only 20 to 50 cubic meters of biomass per hectare. In floodplain (tugai) forests, the average standing timber volume is only 32 cubic meters per forested hectare, with an annual increment of 2 cubic meters. Other desert plants, such as Calligonum, Salsola, Halocnemum, tamarisk, and others, exhibit even lower productivity.Such low productivity is determined primarily by the harsh growing conditions: poor soils, often saline, shifting sands, and very limited precipitation ranging from 80 to 200 mm annually. The stock of edible vegetation on d