Author
Listed:
- Jiaorong Qian
(College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China)
- Yaning Chen
(College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China)
- Yonghui Wang
(College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China)
- Yupeng Li
(State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China)
- Zhi Li
(State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China)
- Gonghuan Fang
(State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China)
- Chuanxiu Liu
(State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China)
- Yihan Wang
(State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China)
- Zhixiong Wei
(State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China)
Abstract
Wetlands function as crucial transitional zones between land and water ecosystems worldwide, contributing significantly to the stability of local ecosystems. However, there is limited research on landscape changes in Xinjiang’s arid interior regions and the factors driving these changes. This study uses data reanalysis techniques to examine the spatial and temporal evolution and landscape patterns of wetlands, as well as their driving forces, in Xinjiang between 1990 and 2023. The results show that over the past three decades, the wetland area in Xinjiang has grown from 18,427 km 2 in 1990 to 21,532 km 2 in 2023, with an annual increase of about 94 km 2 . The greatest growth in wetlands, particularly lakes, marshes, and rivers, has occurred around the periphery of the Tarim Basin and the Ili River Basin, while mountainous areas have seen slight reductions. The distribution pattern shows higher wetland coverage in southern Xinjiang and less coverage in the north, with the largest proportion of wetlands found in the south. Additionally, wetland expansion has led to improvements in the number, density, aggregation, and connectivity of wetland patches, while the complexity of their shapes has decreased. The overall habitat quality of wetlands has also improved over time. Attribution analysis highlights that the rise in runoff due to temperature increases over the past 30 years is a major driver of wetland expansion, with warming accounting for the largest share of expansion in lakes (36%) and in rivers (47.9%). Furthermore, the implementation of large-scale engineering measures, such as ecological water diversion, water-saving irrigation, and reservoir management, has contributed significantly to wetland expansion and ecological restoration. These results provide useful insights for the long-term conservation and management of wetland resources in the arid areas of Xinjiang.
Suggested Citation
Jiaorong Qian & Yaning Chen & Yonghui Wang & Yupeng Li & Zhi Li & Gonghuan Fang & Chuanxiu Liu & Yihan Wang & Zhixiong Wei, 2025.
"The Synergistic Effects of Climate Change and Human Activities on Wetland Expansion in Xinjiang,"
Land, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, September.
Handle:
RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:9:p:1889-:d:1750139
Download full text from publisher
Corrections
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:9:p:1889-:d:1750139. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through
the various RePEc services.