Ecosystem services (ESs) are important for supporting human development. However, a changing climate and anthropogenic impacts are resulting in the degradation of dryland ecosystems to varying degrees. While there has been the global implementation of Ecological Restoration Programs (ERPs) to restore degraded ecosystems, there remains limited comprehensive assessment of their impacts on ESs of drylands. In this study, the sandy areas of northern China were used as the study area. The RUSLE, RWEQ, CASA, and InVEST models were used to simulate four major ESs: soil conservation (SC), sand fixation (SF), carbon sequestration (CS), and water yield (WY). The study aimed to evaluate the influences of various ERPs on major ESs. The dominant factors affecting the overall benefits provided by ESs were also identified. Since ERPs were implemented, forest areas have increased by 2.8 × 10⁴ km², whereas the areas of cropland, shrubland, and grassland have decreased. There were generally increasing trends in SF, SC, and CS, whereas there was a decreasing trend in WY. We then used a scenario-based simulation approach to eliminate the influence of climate variability on ESs. The results showed increasing trends in SF, SC, and CS, whereas there were minimal changes in WY. The results suggested that although ERPs can significantly increase regional ESs, unregulated expansion in vegetation can result in a water crisis and affect regional water security.

Soil salinization can decrease soil productivity and is a significant factor in causing land degradation. Precision mapping of salinization in agricultural fields would improve farmland management. This study focuses on the cropland in the Manas River Basin, located in the arid region of northwest China. It explores the potential of a soil mapping method, the Soil–Land Inference Model (SoLIM), which only requires a small number of soil samples to infer soil salinization of farmlands in arid areas. The model was utilized to create spatial distribution maps of soil salinity for the years 2009 and 2017, and changes in the distribution were analyzed. The research results indicate: (1) Through the analysis of sample point data, it was observed that soil salinity in the study area tends to accumulate in the surface layer (0–30 cm) in spring and in the subsoil layer (60–90 cm) during the crop growing season, with significant spatial variability. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct detailed salinity mapping. (2) Using field measurements as validation data, the simulation results of the SoLIM were compared with spatial interpolation methods and regression models. The SoLIM showed higher inference accuracy, with R² values for the simulation results of the three soil layers all exceeding 0.5. (3) The SoLIM spatial inference showed salt accumulation in the northern part and desalination in the southern part. The findings of this study suggest that the SoLIM has the potential to effectively map soil salinization of croplands in arid areas, offering an efficient solution for monitoring soil salinity in arid oasis croplands.

Soil erosion is a significant form of land degradation worldwide, leading to ecological degradation and a decline in agricultural productivity. The middle section of the northern slopes of Tianshan Mountain (MNSTM) in northwestern China is a high-priority area for soil water erosion prevention, and soil water erosion is a serious problem in the region. Despite this, there is a lack of research on soil water erosion in the MNSTM, and the trends and priority risk areas of soil water erosion remain unclear. Therefore, this study used the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to quantitatively assess soil water erosion from 2001–2020 and predict it from 2030–2050. The study also used the Geodetector method to analyse the influencing factors of soil water erosion in the region. The results show that soil water erosion in the MNSTM has a fluctuating upward trend, increasing at a rate of 0.26 t hm⁻² y⁻¹ over the period 2001–2020 and reaching a maximum value of 39.08 t hm⁻² in 2020. However, soil water erosion in the region is mitigated under both RCP2.6 and RCP4.5 climate scenarios. Vegetation was found to have the highest degree of influence on soil erosion, indicating that its protection and management should be prioritised for future soil and water conservation efforts. The eastern part of the MNSTM was identified as the most vulnerable area to soil and water erosion, and in the context of global climate change, it is crucial to enhance the ecological restoration of the MNSTM to reduce the risk of soil water erosion. These findings can serve as valuable information for decision makers to develop effective strategies to prevent soil erosion and improve the ecological environment in the MNSTM.