A Preliminary Prevention of Drifting Sands and Desertification in Arid Areas

抄録

Functions, processes and effects of windbreak forests and windbreak nets for the prevention of drifting sands and desertification were studied by field experiments and observations at Turfan, Xinjiang, China and Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. Results show that a single windbreak belt (forest or net) is effective for the prevention of drifting sands. However, sands can still flow through the belt, especially through the bottom of the belt due to the accelerated bleed there. Furthermore, sand dunes will form around the windbreak belt. Therefore, it is suggested that wide multi-windbreak belts including shrub and grass shelter belts, windbreak nets and forest shelter belts should be considered in the margin areas of oases and that a windbreak net might be the frontal and initial belt due to its easy setup and its benefits for vegetation growth.