Abstract: As a key protected habitat type in the International Conservation Agenda, dune slack has received much attention in recent 50 years. From the aspects of vegetation processes, soil processes, hydrological processes, effects of scale on ecological processes, as well as biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration, this paper reviewed the main research contents and progress in ecological processes in dune slakes. In recent decades, the related researches are being undergone the shifts from single scale to multi-scale or cross-scale. To elucidate the mechanisms of different ecological processes, the transition from observational study to manipulation experiment has also become one of the characteristics. However, the effects of scale on ecological processes in dune slacks should be further approached, and the influences of dune slack landscape pattern on ecological processes should be better understood. For the future, the studies on the ecological processes in dune slacks in semi-arid region would be in progress, and the theories and methodologies of disturbance ecology and landscape ecology would be applied extensively.

Key words: Guangdong, Soil organic reserves, Soil carbon density, GIS