Chen et al. (2026) A trend toward shorter duration and higher intensity of grassland degradation in Chinese oases

Identification

• Journal: Communications Earth & Environment
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-09
• Authors: Peng Chen, Qiang Tang, Shuai Wang, Yanxu Liu, Linhai Cheng, Changjia Li, Xutong Wu, Fuyou Tian, Ya Gao, Wenxuan Xu, Yuchuan Luo, Bixia Hu, Bojie Fu
• DOI: 10.1038/s43247-026-04017-6

Research Groups

• Chongqing Jinfo Mountain Karst Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Geographical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
• State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Disaster Risk Reduction, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
• State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
• Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Plateau Climate Change and Corresponding Ecological and Environmental Effects, Qinghai Institute of Technology, Xining, China.
• State Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Short Summary

This study examines the evolution, ecological impacts, and potential drivers of degradation events in China's oasis grasslands during 1990–2021. The results show that degradation events affected 68.16% of oasis grasslands, with a shift towards shorter duration and higher intensity events.

Objective

• Investigate the patterns and drivers of grassland degradation events in China's oases.
• Examine the legacy effects of degradation events on ecosystem productivity and stability.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: 1-km grid cell scale for trend analysis, with pixel-level characteristics derived from annual aboveground biomass trajectories at a spatial resolution of 30 m.
• Temporal Scale: 1990–2021, with a focus on degradation events that ended within the study period.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: LandTrendr (temporal segmentation algorithm) for identifying degradation events from annual aboveground biomass trajectories, XGBoost combined with SHAP decomposition for quantifying driver contributions to shifts in oasis grassland degradation patterns.
• Data sources: TerraClimate dataset for climate variables, ERA5-Land soil water data, China's soil texture dataset, annual aboveground biomass dataset for China's oasis grasslands, ruminant density data, and human footprint data.

Main Results

• Degradation events affected 68.16% of oasis grasslands, with a shift towards shorter duration (3–9 years) and higher intensity events.
• Short-term events caused larger post-event productivity declines and reduced ecosystem stability.
• The expansion of short-term degradation was associated with warming, wetting conditions, and increasing variability in temperature and precipitation.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the drivers and legacy effects of grassland degradation events in China's oases, highlighting the importance of considering short-term, high-intensity degradation events in risk assessment and restoration planning.
• The results have implications for policy interventions aimed at mitigating grassland degradation and promoting sustainable use.

Funding

• This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42122006), the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. QYZDY-SSW-DQC012), and the Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Plateau Climate Change and Corresponding Ecological and Environmental Effects.

Citation

@article{Chen2026trend,
  author = {Chen, Peng and Tang, Qiang and Wang, Shuai and Liu, Yanxu and Cheng, Linhai and Li, Changjia and Wu, Xutong and Tian, Fuyou and Gao, Ya and Xu, Wenxuan and Luo, Yuchuan and Hu, Bixia and Fu, Bojie},
  title = {A trend toward shorter duration and higher intensity of grassland degradation in Chinese oases},
  journal = {Communications Earth & Environment},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1038/s43247-026-04017-6},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-04017-6}
}