Spatial and temporal changes and driving factors of desertification in the source region of the Yellow River, China

The source region of the Yellow River, located in the north-eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is an important water conservation region and ecological barrier of the Yellow River. In this paper, based on remote sensing technology, multi-period Landsat remote sensing images in the source region were taken as the main information source. With the assistance of field investigation, we monitored the spatial and temporal changes of desertification in the source region from 2000 to 2019. The results show that the area of desertification in the source region has accounted for 9.36% of the total area, of which the light desertification land is the major portion. The desertification is mainly distributed between the southern margin of Madoi Valley basin and the northern margin of Heihe Valley basin, and is distributed on the river valleys, lakesides, ancient rivers and piedmont proluvial fan, showing the form of patches, sheets and belts. The growth rate of desertification in the source region was 87.47% from 2000 to 2010. With a high growth rate, the process of desertification was represented by the rapid spread of desertification. From 2010 to 2019, the growth rate of desertification was 37.32%, which was relatively slow. But the moderate desertification land maintained a straight linear growth trend, showing an increasing trend of desertification degree. Through the analysis of the driving factors of desertification in the source region of the Yellow River, this paper argues that the special geographical location, climatic factors, rodent damages and human activities are the main causes of desertification. © 2020 Technoscience Publications. All rights reserved.