Temperate grasslands as a dust source: Knowledge, uncertainties, and challenges

Temperate grasslands are sensitive to climate change and are significant, or potentially significant, dust sources. Temperate grassland aeolian processes are unique in that the vegetation growth-decay cycle and weathering process due to extreme temperature changes profoundly affect the occurrence and intensity of wind erosion and dust emission. Human activities, such as animal husbandry or cultivation, also may result in land degradation and enhanced wind erosion. So far, little systematic research on temperate grassland wind erosion has been done, but this issue deserves particular attention. In this review paper, we summarize the understanding of temperate grassland wind-erosion processes and identify the uncertainties and research needs. The needs include (1) a deeper understanding of the aerodynamic and physical controls of grassland vegetation on wind erosion and dust emission processes, (2) scaling known relationships upwards to model the regional scale, (3) quantifying critical parameters affecting dust emissions (i.e., surface and aerodynamic roughness) via remote-sensing techniques, and (4) integrated wind-erosion modeling that incorporates grassland aeolian database and vegetation modeling of both seasonal growth and decay plus the impacts of grazing and cultivation. We also outline the research being carried out by Japanese scientists in collaboration with colleagues at Mongolian, American, and German research institutes in developing a temperate grassland wind-erosion modeling system, which can be used as a pre-warning system of severe dust storms and as a tool for strategic management of temperate grasslands.