Evaluating land restoration based on the land cover in the Horqin Sandy Land, China

Land degradation is a severe ecological environmental issue in arid and semiarid areas. Evaluating land degradation exactly is essential for maintaining the security of the ecological environment. This study evaluated land restoration in terms of land cover changes in the Horqin Sandy Land from 2000 to 2018 and analyzed the related influencing factors. The results showed that land restoration and land degradation accounted for 37.55% and 4.47% of the total area, respectively. Land restoration has improved substantially, and desertification control has achieved remarkable effects. NPP trends should be analyzed in combination with land cover types. When the land cover has changed, the type of land cover change and the period need to be clarified before analyzing the corresponding NPP trend to depict the land productivity accurately. The vegetation NPP changes following land cover conversions were more essential than land cover change types. Changes in precipitation and temperature had positive effects on the growth of vegetation and land restoration. In general, human activities promoted land restoration, including grazing policies, cropland utilization activities, and ecological restoration projects. Current land restoration, however, essentially sacrifices the groundwater resources, which challenges the sustainability of land restoration. Appropriate land use strategies were proposed to promote sustainable land use, including preventing vegetation degradation following land cover conversions, improving grassland construction, and coordinating the usage of cropland and water resources. Such results are meaningful for promoting land restoration and realizing sustainable land development.