荒漠化潜在发生区（简称荒漠化区）土地利用演变受气候、地貌与水文过程共同调控，其时空分异特征尚缺乏统一分区框架下的系统认识。基于我国荒漠化区范围，构建“水文生态-气候干湿-地貌功能”三维分区体系，分析1990-2020年不同分区土地利用结构及其演变特征，并从林草植被与典型荒漠地类互转、林草植被结构变化、林灌与草地互转、水域沼泽变化和耕地变化五个过程解析荒漠化动态。结果表明：近30年来，研究区典型荒漠地类面积总体减少，但林草植被面积并未同步增加，草地面积及盖度等级总体下降，而耕地、建设用地和水域持续扩张，表明典型荒漠地类减少并不能简单等同于植被恢复；土地利用变化表现出显著分区差异，西北内陆区(I)植被呈现山区恢复、平原退化的特征；青藏高原区(II)植被恢复集中于半湿润区；黄海辽温带区(III)林草增加集中于半湿润区，并伴随明显的退耕过程，东北寒区(IV)新增耕地主要来源于草地和水域沼泽，但后期扩张速率有所降低。总体上，气候干湿条件决定了区域土地利用的基本格局，而地貌功能进一步分化了植被恢复与退化路径。研究结果表明，荒漠化治理应避免以典型荒漠地类减少作为单一恢复判据，并依据山区产流区和平原耗散区的水资源条件，重点加强草地保护及土地利用规模与水资源承载能力的协调，为荒漠化分区治理提供依据。

[Objectives] Land use change within the potential extent of desertification in China (hereafter referred to as the desertification area) is jointly regulated by climate, geomorphology, and hydrological processes, while its spatiotemporal heterogeneity remains insufficiently characterized under a unified regionalization framework. [Methods] Based on the delineation of potential desertification areas in China, this study established a three-dimensional regionalization framework integrating eco-hydrological regionalization, climatic aridity regionalization, and geomorphic-functional dimensions. Using land use data from 1990, 2000, and 2020, we analyze the structural characteristics and evolutionary patterns of land use across different regions, and further examine desertification-related dynamics from five key processes, including transitions between vegetation and typical desert land types, vegetation cover changes, forest-grass conversions, variations in water bodies and wetlands, and cropland expansion. [Results] Results showed that, over the past three decades, both typical desert land types and vegetation (forest and grassland) have generally declined, while forest and grassland vegetation did not increase correspondingly. Grassland area and cover declined overall, while cropland, built-up land, and water bodies continued to expand, revealing that a reduction in typical desert land types could not be simply equated with vegetation recovery. Land use change exhibits pronounced regional heterogeneity. In the Northwest Inland Zone (I), vegetation recovery is mainly observed in mountainous areas, whereas degradation dominates in plains. In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Zone (II), vegetation recovery is primarily concentrated in semi-humid zones. In the Yellow River-Hai River-Liao River Temperate Zone (III), the trend of cropland-to-forest conversion is significant and also concentrated in semi-humid areas. In the Northeast Cold Zone (IV), newly increased cropland mainly originates from grassland and water bodies, although its growth rate has slowed. [Conclusions] Overall, climatic aridity-humidity conditions determined the basic regional pattern of land use, while geomorphic functions further differentiated the pathways of vegetation recovery and degradation. These findings suggest that desertification control should avoid using the reduction of typical desert land types as the sole indicator of ecological recovery. Instead, regional management should account for the contrasting water-resource conditions between mountain runoff-generation zones and plain water-dissipation zones, with particular emphasis on grassland conservation and on coordinating land-use intensity with regional water-resource carrying capacity, thereby providing a basis for region-specific desertification management.