Background The study of wind erosion characteristics in the arid sandy areas of Ningxia, together with the identification of soil wind erosion in different substrate types (sand dunes, shrubland, barren grassland) and land use types (available land, shrubland, barren grassland), is of great significance to the local conservation, improvement and rational use of soil and water resources, which in turn can promote the construction of a good ecological environment.

Methods The experiment was conducted at a field station in Yanchi, Ningxia, and the monitoring period was from February to December. Five sub-bedding types were selected: mobile dune, semi-fixed dune, fixed dune, shrubland and barren grassland, where mobile dune, semi-fixed dune and fixed dune were planted with different cover levels of Artemisia desertorum. The plant cover average, height of vegetation and crust cover of the different sub-bedding types were investigated, and then their wind erosion thicknesses were measured by in situ brazing and wind erosion modulus calculated; the sand transport rates of the above five sub-bedding types, including creep sediment transport rate and omnidirectional sediment transport rate, were also measured by the sand collector method. The land use types of cultivated land, shrubland and barren grassland were selected to determine their wind erosion sand production thickness at different orientations (north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, and northwest) by the wind erosion circle method.

Results 1) The mean monthly wind erosion moduli for mobile dune, semi-fixed dune, fixed dune, shrubland and barren grassland were 6521.82, 5888.18, 6735.09, 6101.45 and 4076.91 t/km respectively, with fixed dune being the highest, followed by mobile dune and barren grassland being the lowest. 2) The monthly average creep sediment transport rates of mobile dune, semi-fixed dune, fixed dune, shrubland and barren grassland were 0.65, 0.71, 0.64, 0.55 and 0.68 g/(m²·min), and the monthly average omnidirectional sediment transport rates were 2.80, 0.82, 0.75, 0.68 and 0.56 g/(m²·min). The creep sediment transport rates of all sub-bedding types were similar, while the omnidirectional sediment transport rate of mobile dune was significantly higher than those of the other four sub-bedding types. Overall, the rate of sand transport was highest in spring (March to May), when wind erosion was more likely to be evident. 3) Cultivated land and barren grassland were dominated by the transport of sand and gravel, while shrubland mainly produced the accumulation of sand and gravel.

Conclusions A larger area of A. desertorum can suppress wind erosion of sand dunes, and the planting of herbs is more conducive to reducing wind erosion than shrubs, so herbs such as A. desertorum can play a role in the prevention and control of wind erosion and improvement of soil and water resources in the arid and sandy areas of Ningxia.