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Xilin River
The Xilin River () of Inner Mongolia, China, is located in the middle latitudes. A study of the land cover types recognized 17 sub-classes in the Xilin River Basin including nine types of steppe habitat based on the dominant grasses in different areas and eight non-grassland habitats including current cropland, harvested cropland, urban areas, wetlands, desertified land, saline and alkaline land, water bodies and lands which could not be classified because of cloud cover in satellite images.Chen Siqing, Liu Jiyuan, Zhuang Dafang and Xiao Xiangming. 2003. Characterization of land cover types in Xilin River Basin using multi-temporal Landsat images. Journal of Geographical Sciences 13(2):131-138, .C. Tonga, J. Wub, S. Yonga, J. Yangd, W. Yonga. In press. A landscape-scale assessment of steppe degradation in the Xilin River Basin, Inner Mongolia, China. Journal of Arid Environments: in press Geography The east side of the Xilin River Basin is lined with 1500 m tall mountains and hill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and Borders of China, borders fourteen countries by land across an area of nearly , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest country by land area. The country is divided into 33 Province-level divisions of China, province-level divisions: 22 provinces of China, provinces, 5 autonomous regions of China, autonomous regions, 4 direct-administered municipalities of China, municipalities, and 2 semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the country's capital, while Shanghai is List of cities in China by population, its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center. Considered one of six ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a small section of China's China–Russia border, border with Russia (Zabaykalsky Krai). Its capital is Hohhot; other major cities include Baotou, Chifeng, Tongliao, and Ordos City, Ordos. The autonomous region was established in 1947, incorporating the areas of the former Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China provinces of Suiyuan, Chahar Province, Chahar, Rehe Province, Rehe, Liaobei, and Xing'an Province, Xing'an, along with the northern parts of Gansu and Ningxia. Its area makes it the List of Chinese administrative divisions by area, third largest Chinese administrative subdivision, constituting approximately and 12% of China's total land area. Due to its long span from east to west, Inn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome A steppe is usually covered with grass and shrubs, depending on the season and latitude. The term ''steppe climate'' denotes a semi-arid climate, which is encountered in regions too dry to support a forest, but not dry enough to be a desert. Steppes are usually characterized by a semi-arid or continental climate. Temperature extremes can be recorded in the summer of up to and in winter of down to . Besides this major seasonal difference, fluctuations between day and night are also significant: in both the highlands of Mongolia and northern Nevada, can be reached during the day with sub-freezing readings at night. Steppes ave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wetland
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially in the soils. Wetlands form a transitional zone between waterbodies and dry lands, and are different from other terrestrial or aquatic ecosystems due to their vegetation's roots having adapted to oxygen-poor waterlogged soils. They are considered among the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as habitats to a wide range of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants and animals, with often improved water quality due to plant removal of excess nutrients such as nitrates and phosphorus. Wetlands exist on every continent, except Antarctica. The water in wetlands is either freshwater, brackish or saltwater. The main types of wetland are defined based on the dominant plants and the source of the water. For example, ''marshes'' ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xilinhot
Xilinhot ( Mongolian: ; zh, s=锡林浩特市) is a county-level city that serves as the seat of government for the Xilingol League in Inner Mongolia, China. In 2010, it has a jurisdiction area of and a population of 245,886; 149,000 people live in the Xilinhot urban area.Data from the Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China History During the Ming dynasty, the elder brother of lived in Xilinhot area. As a result, the local Mongols were called ''Abganar'', because ''Abgal'' in Mongolian means paternal uncle. When in the first half of the 17th century the Mongols submitted to the Manchu, ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grassland Degradation
Grassland degradation, also called vegetation or steppe degradation, is a biotic disturbance in which grass struggles to grow or can no longer exist on a piece of land due to causes such as overgrazing, burrowing of small mammals, and climate change. Since the 1970s, it has been noticed to affect plains and plateaus of alpine meadows or grasslands, most notably being in the Philippines and in the Tibetan and Inner Mongolian region of China, where of grassland is degraded each year. Across the globe it is estimated that 23% of the land is degraded. It takes years and sometimes even decades, depending on what is happening to that piece of land, for a grassland to become degraded. The process is slow and gradual, but so is restoring degraded grassland. Initially, only patches of grass appear to die and appear brown; but the degradation process, if not addressed, can spread to many acres of land. As a result, the frequency of landslides and dust storms may increase. The degraded l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desertification
Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This is driven by a number of factors, alone or in combination, such as drought, climatic shifts, tillage for agriculture, overgrazing and deforestation for fuel or construction materials. Though vegetation plays a major role in determining the Soil biology, biological composition of the soil, studies have shown that, in many environments, the rate of erosion and runoff decreases exponentially with increased vegetation cover. Unprotected, dry soil surfaces blow away with the wind or are washed away by flash floods, leaving infertile lower soil layers that bake in the sun and become an unproductive hardpan. At least 90% of the inhabitants of drylands live in Developing country, developing countries, where they also suffer from poor economic and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overgrazing
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature reserves. It can also be caused by immobile, travel restricted populations of native or non-native wild animals. Overgrazing reduces the usefulness, productivity and biodiversity of the land and is one cause of desertification and erosion. Overgrazing is also seen as a cause of the spread of invasive species of non-native plants and of weeds. Degrading land, emissions from animal agriculture and reducing the biomass in a ecosystem contribute directly to climate change between grazing events. Successful planned grazing strategies have been in support of the American bison of the Great Plains, or migratory wildebeest of the African savannas, or by holistic planned grazing. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
