Land use/cover and land degradation across the Eurasian steppe: Dynamics, patterns and driving factors

Despite the ecological and socio-economic importance of Eurasian steppe, the land use/cover change, land degradation and the threats facing this precious ecosystem still have not been comprehensively understood. Taking advantages of the land use/cover change monitoring platform (FROM-GLC Plus), this study developed the annual land use/cover maps during 2000–2022, and the land use/cover change, especially the change of grassland, was further analyzed. The grassland area exhibited a net increase, predominantly transformed from cropland, forest, and bareland, accounting for 17.64 %, 31.91 %, and 45.60 %, respectively. To monitor land degradation, we adopted the framework suggested by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). According to the monitoring result, grassland constituted the highest proportion of degraded land (39.82 %). This may due to its dominance in the Eurasian steppe's land use/cover, as the extent of grassland degradation (1.92 %) was lower than the overall land degradation level (2.83 %) across the region. To offer tailored and sustainable development recommendations, we quantified the driving factors behind land dynamics using the geographical detector model and convergent cross mapping (CCM), considering both spatial and temporal dimensions. Environmental and socio-economic factors, such as precipitation, temperature, urbanization, mining and grazing intensity, etc., were integrated into the analysis. We found that urbanization, cropland and moisture distribution emerged as key drivers influencing land degradation's spatial distribution in the Eurasian steppe, while temperature variations between years impacted vegetation changes. This research thus provides a deeper understanding of the region's land dynamics, enhancing comprehensive monitoring of the Eurasian steppe's land dynamics. Moreover, it serves as a foundation for policymakers and land managers to devise conservation strategies and sustainable development initiatives for this critical ecosystem.