The Mountain-Basin System(MBS) in the northwestern arid zone of China consists of mountain vegetation vertical belt system and concentric circular vegetation (geologic and geomorphic) system of desert basin. The MBS contains three “circles”: mountain, pedimont fan and alluvial plain, including nine belts, they are alpine belt, montane forest-grassland belt, low-montane desert belt, gravel gobi desert belt, agricultural oasis, marginal belt of diluvial fan, alluvial desert plain, sandy desert belt, and lake. The above-mentioned zonation is the most essential existence and functional pattern of those precious natural resources. It is the presentation of an irresistible rule of the nature and, also, the guidance system of ecological conservation and land use. Basing on this foundation, a “mountain-oasis-ecotone-desert eco-productive paradigm”is proposed. The MBS is it’s basic frame. It’s driving forces are biogeochemical circulation, biogeophysic process, and biogeosocial interaction, which run through the whole system. Thus, the establishment of a sustainable agricultural system and an optimized land use and land cover structure and pattern, which aimed at ecological conservation may be possible.

Date Published: 14 July 2003
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 4890, Ecosystems Dynamics, Ecosystem-Society Interactions, and Remote Sensing Applications for Semi-Arid and Arid Land, (14 July 2003); doi: 10.1117/12.471238

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4890:
Ecosystems Dynamics, Ecosystem-Society Interactions, and Remote Sensing Applications for Semi-Arid and Arid Land
Xiaoling Pan; Wei Gao; Michael H. Glantz; Yoshiaki Honda, Editor(s)