SP 1 - Land degradation
SP1 aims to characterize the cause-and-effect relationships between land use practices and soil degradation with regard to climate change and possible desertification of agriculturally used areas in the Kulunda steppe.
5 objectives are defined for this subproject:
Characterization of land use development, land cover change and land use intensity since the initial breaking-of-ground in the grassland steppes of the Kulunda steppe
Climate specification for the different ecological steppe regions.
Identification of soil degradation types and documentation of their spatial extent in three different ecological zones of the Kulunda steppe
Identification of desertification areas and their spatial and temporal development
Derivation of trends and scenarios of land use changes and the subsequent soil degradation impacts in different ecological and climatic zones with special focus on the impacts on the humus and hence carbon storage capabilities.
