Rocky desertification and comprehensive improvement of karst areas in Yunnan

The distribution, cause and harm of rocky desertification in Yunnan province were analyzed in this paper. It was pointed out that the rocky desertification area distributed in every region of Yunnan, the distribution scale and the damage were different among different regions. The distribution area of rocky desertification increased and the degradation aggravated from north to the south; eastern was serious than the western. Strong human activities were the dominant driving force of rocky desertification, which accelerated ecological environment deterioration, including soil and water erosion, river channel sedimentation and frequent natural disasters, leading to soil resources losing, non-zonal drought and so on. The patterns of forest vegetation recovery, grassland animal husbandry, the ecological migration and ecological agricultures of transforming slope mountainous area into terrace, stereo-structural agriculture and livestock raising-biogas-crop planting are summarized, which were applicable for different rocky desertification areas of Yunnan.