Ecological Restoration and Sustainable Agricultural Paradigm of Mountain-Oasis-Ecotone-Desert System in the North of the Tianshan Mountains

The mountain-basin system(MBS) in the north of the Tianshan Mountains consists of mountain vegetation vertical belt system and concentric circular vegetation (geologic and geomorphic) system of desert basin. The MBS contains three "circles": montane, piedmont fan and alluvial plain, including nine belts, viz. alpine belt, montane forest-grassland belt, low-mountain desert belt, gravel gobi desert belt, agricultural oasis, marginal belt of diluvial fan, alluvial desert plain, sandy desert belt, and lake. The above-mentioned zonation is the most essential existence and functional pattern of those precious natural resources. It is the representation of an irresistible rule of the nature and, also, the guidance system of ecological conservation and land use. Basing on this foundation, a "mountain-oasis-oasis/desert ecotone-desert eco-productive paradigm"is proposed. The MBS is its basic frame. Its driving forces are the biogeochemical cycles, biogeophysic process, and biogeosocial interaction, which run through the whole system. Thus, the establishment of a sustainable agricultural system and an optimized land use and land cover structure and pattern, which aimed at ecological conservation, may be possible.