Restoring Central Asian Floodplain Ecosystems as Natural Capital and Cultural Heritage in a Continental Desert Environment

In recent decades, the restoration of degraded and damaged ecosystems has become a challenge for landscape management, nature conservation, and sustainable land-use development throughout the world. As rivers and their floodplains provide many ecosystem services, e.g. the purification of water, combating desertification, the accumulation of carbon, and providing habitats for plants and animals, a particular focus is on their restoration. As a case study, we focus on the Tarim River and its floodplain in continental-arid Southern Xinjiang, NW China, and aim at an interdisciplinary approach to the landscape, taking ecological as well as socio-economic aspects and cultural history into account. Therefore, we describe the natural environment, as well as outline the historical development and the cultural and economic background. Key species of the floodplain ecosystem, such as Populus euphratica, Phragmites australis, Tamarix sp. and Apocynum venetum are particularly taken into account as part of the natural environment, as well as being important species providing ecosystem services and sustainable land-use perspectives. On the basis of our own investigations, we develop a future strategy for the sustainable development of the Tarim river floodplain.