Abstract: Bashang area of Hebei Province and Otindag Sandy Land of Inner Mongolia are key regions in desertification studies. Studies on vegetation development and desertification in this area are critically reviewed and commented. Vegetation degradation is the general trend during the past 6000 years in millennium scale. Although human cultivation has a relatively short history, vegetation degraded remarkably during the past 50 years. Vegetation degradation and desertification are strongly correlated with the frequently occurred sandstorms in Beijing area; however, the detailed mechanism is still unclear. Three key problems for future studies are suggested. They are: (1) Integrated study on a ecological transect from Beijing to Otindag Sandy Land; (2) Modeling vegetation development and aeolian activities; (3) Tempo-spatial patterns of desertification.

Key words: Bashang area, Otingdag Sandy Land, vegetation development, desertification, Bashang area, Otingdag Sandy Land, vegetation development, desertification

摘要： 河北坝上及内蒙古浑善达克沙地是环首都生态圈的一部分，也是荒漠化研究的关键区域。前人的研究表明，这一地区的风沙活动大约始于6000年前。虽然这一地区人类开发的历史较短，但近50年来的植被退化速度非常迅速。坝上地区和浑善达克沙地植被退化与北京地区沙尘天气有密切的关系，但详细机理仍有待探讨。作者提出了本区植被退化与荒漠化研究的3个方向：（1）生态样带综合研究；（2）植被演化与风沙活动关系的模型研究；（3）荒漠化时空格局研究。

关键词: 坝上, 浑善达克沙地, 植被演化, 荒漠化, 坝上, 浑善达克沙地, 植被演化, 荒漠化