Study on relationship between landuse conversions and land desertification in Mu Us Sandland region

Based on multi-temporal remotely sensed materials of both 1985 and 2000, we analyzed the effects of landuse types and their conversions on desertification in Mu Us Sandland region in the agro-pastoral transitional zone of north central China. The results indicate the proportion of desertification land area in the whole area of land is 85.98% in the middle period of the 1980s while 86.07% in the end stage of the 2000s. The desertification degree is aggravated to some extents that extremely desertification land area adds up to 3.6% of the whole area. One of the most important reasons of desertification developing is that human utilize land unreasonably, which successfully triggers the desertification processes. The landuse have changed about 9053km² between 1985 and 2000, which account for 10.75% of the total area. And at last, this research reveals that both improper landuse types and conversions could accelerate the desertification process.