Spatiotemporal evolution and driving mechanisms of desertification on the Mongolian Plateau

Desertification poses a severe ecological and environmental challenge in the Mongolian Plateau (MP). It is difficult to quantify desertification distribution using unified indicators in the entire MP, because of its complex physical geographic conditions and various climatic zones covered. To accurately address this challenge, the spatial distribution of desertification at a 30-m resolution from 1990 to 2020 were mapped in this study. The desertification potential occurrence zone was identified by using a moisture index on the MP firstly. The feature space model and five machine learning models were constructed to make the map based on Google Earth Engine and Landsat data. The spatiotemporal distribution of desertification were further analyzed, and the dominant drivers of desertification distribution and evolution were identified using Geodetector model. The results indicate that the potential occurrence area of desertification accounted for 83.88 % of the total land area. The gradient boosted tree model for desertification assessment has the best performance with the highest overall accuracy of 88.18 %. The year 2010 marked a pivotal transition from land degradation to land restoration in the MP. Between 2010 and 2020, desertified land continued to deteriorate extensively in the southern Mongolia, while Inner Mongolia, China, essentially entered a full recovery phase. Precipitation and land use emerged as the primary drivers of the spatial distribution of desertification on the Mongolian Plateau and Mongolia, with potential evapotranspiration and precipitation influencing the distribution of desertification in Inner Mongolia, China. Land use change was the primary driver of desertification evolution on the MP and Mongolia. This study constructs an indicator system and methodology suitable for desertification monitoring on the MP, addresses the lack of refined desertification data over a long time series, and provides scientific reference for decision-making support in combating desertification in this region, and other large arid and semi-arid areas in the world.