Azaiez Belgacem

Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Global climatic changes have influenced world biodiversity and ecosystems. Massive industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have accelerated the process resulting in land degradation and major crop losses and limiting food resources. Extreme climate variability and change have directly impacted on crop production. These changes include the r...

The evolution of life on earth is increasingly shaped by dramatic climatic changes. These have consequently affected life-supporting factors on our planet, including air, light, soil, and water. In the last 150 years, humanity-driven changes in climate have promoted the salinization of agricultural lands. Salt accumulation in groundwater coupled wi...

Climate change and food security are highly interlinked challenges currently faced by human societies. Food and nutrition insecurity has increased due to a greater sensitivity to shifting climatic conditions and obsolete food production and processing methods. To face such challenges, climate-smart agriculture can be referred to as an approach that...

Little is known about the effect of seed natural long storage on the germination capacity of vascular plant species particularly those used in restoration programs. In the current paper, we aimed to study the effect of different seed storage durations (from 3 months to 22 years) on the germination of Argyrolobium uniflorum (Decne.) Jaub. & Spach, h...

Rangelands are the main land use in the Arabian Peninsula and cover about 50% of total area. They are under continuous heavy grazing pressure due to underlying social and economic causes as well as institutional effects. ICARDA in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) has developed and introduced different rehabilitat...

Tajikistan’s rangelands are mostly mountainous and consist of summer and winter pastures. Vegetation structure and composition in these diverse landscapes are generally influenced by environmental factors. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of aspect on vegetation characteristics of two mountainous pastures (summer and winter) ov...

Pakistan is an agricultural country and livestock plays a pivotal role, with the demand for protein being met primarily by livestock production. Livestock contributes more than 60% to agriculture and 11.22% to the country’s GDP. It is estimated that over 35 million people engage in livestock-related activities. Meat production has increased during...

The Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, including the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is one of the driest regions in the world and has insufficient renewable freshwater supplies for its current population, estimated at 400 million people. With the population growing by 2 percent each year, by 2050 the region is expected to h...

Pakistan is primarily an agrarian country with an agriculture sector that is a major source of economic activities, foreign exchange earnings, and the livelihood of the majority of population, caretaker of food and nutritional security, a means to combat rural poverty, and a supplier of raw material for the industries. Out of the total area of 79.6...

Citation: Louhaichi, M.; Gamoun, M.; Ben Salem, F.; Ouled Belgacem, A. Rangeland Biodiversity and Climate Variability: Supporting the Need for Flexible Grazing Management. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7124. https:// Abstract: Resting or grazing exclusion is an effective practice widely adopted to restore degraded, arid rangelands. To understand its eff...

Long-term protection of arid ecosystems changes the vegetation and soil structures. The quantification of aboveground biomass and carbon content are among the principal indicators to evaluate these changes. Most methods used to quantify these parameters are costly, time consuming and destructive. In this paper, two non-destructive methods were comp...

Climate change and degradation of natural resources pose daunting challenges in arid and semi-arid rangelands of southern Mediterranean region. Overcoming these challenges requires considerable management actions efforts. In this context, the current two-year (2017/2018 and 2018/2019) study investigated the effects of soil surface scarification and...

The global warming resulting from anthropogenic activities is considered a major threat for the biodiversity in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. North African countries in western Mediterranean basin, including Tunisia, are expected to experience strong rainfall drop and temperature increase in the next few decades, interrogating the geographi...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the benefits of reintroducing traditional grazing systems practices for improving arid rangelands. Grazing is the most extensive land use in southern Tunisia, but the rangelands have suffered many decades of severe degradation due to profound socioeconomic changes and the emergence of an agro-pasto...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to evaluate the vulnerability of the important rangeland shrub, Atriplex leucoclada (Boiss) to both climate change and livestock grazing, within the Syrian rangelands as a representative landscape type of West Asia. Design/methodology/approach – Ecologically based quantitative niche models were developed for b...

Direct seeding techniques often result in unsatisfactory outcomes in rangeland rehabilitation, primarily because of low seedling emergence and poor establishment. Seed processing techniques aimed at improving seedling emergence have gained interest by pasture managers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the combined effects of bracteole r...

Plants are important components of any rangeland. However, the importance of desert rangeland plant diversity has often been underestimated. It has been argued that desert rangelands of Tunisia in good ecological condition provide more services than those in poor ecological condition. This is because rangelands in good condition support a more dive...

In order to investigate the effect of reclaimed wastewater (RWW) on soil chemical properties and heavy metal uptake of selected forages, an experiment was carried out at Dhaid Research Station, UAE during three growing seasons (2014-2016). Alfalfa, Rhodes and Buffel grass were irrigated by RWW and grown in a randomized complete block design with fo...

Food security is a critical issue for the Arabian Peninsula countries due fast population growth, reduced domestic food production and the tighter global food markets because of trading partners‘ strained export surpluses. Water scarcity is a major concern for the AP. The renewable water resources per capita is considered the lowest in the world an...

Limited water resources are the main challenge facing agricultural developments in dry areas. Thus improving the crops water use efficiency (WUE) is considered the greatest one. In an attempt to alleviate feed shortages and producing less water consuming forages, in 2015, 38 spineless cactus accessions (Opuntia ficus-indica var. inermis) well-known...

Soil and water salinity is a major environmental problem in the dry Mediterranean regions, affecting rangeland production. This study investigated the effects of salinity on the wild perennial grass (Poaceae) species Stipa lagascae R. & Sch., a potential forage plant that could be used to rehabilitate degraded rangelands in dry areas. In a laborato...

In dry areas, natural plant communities are mainly affected by climatic stress and human disturbances – overgrazing, plowing, and biomass harvesting – that accelerate their degradation. Management techniques, including creation of national parks (fencing), are needed to conserve natural resources/biodiversity. The long-term effects of protection on...

This study investigates the relationship between fine resolution, local-scale biophysical and socioeconomic contexts within which land degradation occurs, and the human responses to it. The research draws on experimental data collected under different territorial and socioeconomic conditions at 586 field sites in five Mediterranean countries (Spain...

This study was carried out at the communal rangelands of Dhahar, Saharan area of Southern Tunisia, to assess the impact of restoration and rehabilitation techniques on natural vegetation cover. Two rangeland types (Rhanterium suaveolens and Anthyllis sericea) were subjected to three management modes: two years rest (M), reseeding Stipagrostis punge...

Soil degradation and desertification processes in the Mediterranean basin reflect the interplay between environmental and socioeconomic drivers. An approach to evaluate comparatively the multiple relationships between biophysical variables and socioeconomic factors is illustrated in the present study using the data collected from 586 field sites lo...

Rationale Projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change give an indication of likely changes in climate on a global scale. But these projections provide little information on how this might affect rangeland plant communities in specific regions. A large area of the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region is arid or semi-arid with sh...

Buffel Grass: A resilient, drought-tolerant forage species to alleviate feed shortages and feeding costs. Arid and semi-arid rangelands face increasing climate variability and grazing pressure as the world's demand for food increases. ICARDA is promoting drought-tolerant species as a crucial means of assisting rangeland rehabilitation efforts, help...

Arid and semi-arid rangelands face increasing climate variability and grazing pressure as the world's demand for food increases. ICARDA is introducing drought-tolerant species as a crucial means of assisting rangeland rehabilitation efforts, helping to conserve rapidly-depleting water resources, and maintain grazing at sustainable levels. The resul...

An approach to derive relationships for defining land degradation and desertification risk and developing appropriate tools for assessing the effectiveness of the various land management practices using indicators is presented in the present paper. In order to investigate which indicators are most effective in assessing the level of desertification...

Indicator-based approaches are often used to monitor land degradation and desertification from the global to the very local scale. However, there is still little agreement on which indicators may best reflect both status and trends of these phenomena. In this study, various processes of land degradation and desertification have been analyzed in 17...

The restoration technique importance resides on the assessment of its impact on biodiversity. This assessment is possible by the use of some environmental indicators extracted from a diachronic study of land cover changes in protected areas. Our study is carried out with the evaluation of some indicators inside Sidi Toui national park. These indica...

SUMMARY The steppic ecosystems of the Tunisian arid zone are considered as degraded under the effect of many factors (climatic, edaphic, anthropic…). The Rhanterium suaveolens steppe is dominant in this zone. It is extremely endangered by extinction due to its attractiveness of various human activities (i.e: easy accessible flat area, good rangelan...

Soil degradation and desertification processes in the Mediterranean basin reflect the interplay between environmental and socioeconomic drivers. An approach to evaluate comparatively the multiple relationships between biophysical variables and socioeconomic factors is illustrated in the present study using the data collected from 586 field sites lo...

During last decades, the natural vegetation cover in southern Tunisia, mainly dominated by dwarf and sparse shrub, was continuously disturbed under various human activities especially on sandy soil (easily eroded). The ecological characteristics (soil structure and texture, vegetation, topography...) of sandy steppes, with Rhanterium suaveolens Des...

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of climate change on the geographical distribution of selected native species from two areas from West Asia and North Africa. Three species representing two genera were selected for assessment of their vulnerability to climate change. The first species was Salsola vermiculata L. which is common to both study...

Protection of designated areas within rangelands is widely considered to be the most effective and the practical way to conserve plant diversity and maintain ecosystem composition and structure. Thus, the effect of protection (two levels of grazing) at two sites in a rangeland was monitored: inside Musawar (enclosure), where the protection level is...

Protected areas such as national parks are often assumed to be the best way to conserve plant diversity and maintain ecosystem composition and structure. To evaluate this assertion, we sampled two areas with two different levels of grazing: a national park where the protection level was high and an open area where human populations have unrestricte...

Ecosystems protected from heavy grazing impacts, such as national parks and refuges, are generally considered to sustain higher plant species diversity and better ecosystem composition and structure compared to heavily grazed areas. To evaluate the impact of livestock grazing, we sampled vegetation characteristics from two areas having different gr...

If the effects of grazing on plant diversity have been extensively studied in a wide range of ecosystems, effects of controlled grazing are still largely unknown. Species diversity indices are useful indicators of the sustainability of collective rangelands in southern Tunisia. In order to determine an optimal management method of arid rangelands w...

In North African dryland research, few recognize that phosphorus (P) is the main soil nutrient limiting plant growth for legumes, in particular. P-fertilisation of legume reseedings could boost biological N-fixation and N-yield through enhanced biomass production, which, in turn, can benefit the re-establishment of resourceresponsive perennial gras...

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Grasslands are one of the world‘s most widespread vegetation types, covering nearly 20% of the land surface and represent a major source of production of agricultural products. However, grassland vegetation across the Mediterranean region is changing at an unanticipated rate. These changes are the result of climatic and socio-economic changes. Beca...

Si les effets du pâturage sur la diversité floristique ont été largement étudiés sur une large gamme d’écosystèmes, les effets du pâturage contrôlé restent encore très peu connus. Les indices de diversité spécifique sont des indicateurs utiles pour l’évaluation de la durabilité des parcours collectifs. En vue de déterminer un mode de gestion optima...

2000 ‫وسنة‬ 1990 ‫لسنة‬ ‫النباتية‬ ‫الخرائط‬ ‫رسم‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫تم‬ ‫مكنت‬ .‫الميدانية‬ ‫المعطيات‬ ‫وتحليل‬ ‫الندست‬ ‫الصناعية‬ ‫األقمار‬ ‫صور‬ ‫معالجة‬ ‫على‬ ‫اعتمادا‬ ‫من‬ ‫بمجموعة‬ ‫أساسا‬ ‫مرتبط‬ ‫للمراعي‬ ‫مطرد‬ ‫تدهور‬ ‫مالحظة‬ ‫من‬ ‫الخريطتين‬ ‫وتحليل‬ ‫مقارنة‬ .‫اإلنتاجية‬ ‫قدرتها‬ ‫مراعاة‬ ‫وعدم‬ ‫المراعي‬ ‫تجاه‬ ‫لإلنسان‬ ‫الجائر‬ ‫السلوك‬ ‫ﱠة‬ ‫...

The impacts of drought and soil type on vegetation dynamics of arid communal rangeland in southern Tunisia under rest technique are discussed. The response of plant communities to rest, under various climate conditions and soil types, was assessed in four communal arid rangelands of southern Tunisia during 3 years (2006/2007–2007/2008–2008/2009). M...

In southern Tunisia, plants are subjected to severe drought and many human disturbances, causing the degradation of soils and plants. The study of wild plants and their response to water deficit can facilitate their conservation and help in ecosystem rehabilitation. In this context, the adaptive responses to water deficit of three desert Calligonum...

RAPD markers were used to assess genetic diversity of 20 Stipa lagascae R. & Sch. genotypes collected from southern Tunisia. Twelve RAPD primers amplified 94 bands (7.83 bands per primer), of which 88 bands (7.33 polymorphic bands per primer) were polymorphic. The number of bands per primer ranged from 6 to 11 corresponding to 93.61% with a PIC of...

La variation de la diversité spécifique en fonction de trois niveaux de pression pastorale (nulle, modérée, forte) a été étudiée sur des parcours collectifs des Dhahars de la région au sud-est de Tataouine. L’étude a été conduite sur des parcours des zones sahariennes à Gymnocarpos decander, Hammada schmittiana, Stipagrostis pungens et Anthyllis se...

RAPD markers were used to assess genetic diversity of 20 Stipa lagascae R. & Sch. genotypes collected from southern Tunisia. Twelve RAPD primers amplified 94 bands (7.83 bands per primer), of which 88 bands (7.33 polymorphic bands per primer) were polymorphic. The number of bands per primer ranged from 6 to 11 corresponding to 93.61% with a PIC of...

In southern Tunisia, plants are subjected to severe drought and many human disturbances, causing the degradation of soils and plants. The study of wild plants and their response to water deficit can facilitate their conservation and help in ecosystem rehabilitation. In this context, the adaptive responses to water deficit of three desert Calligonum...

Water points provide excellent sites for studying overgrazing effects on plant communities in dry areas. Distance from water can be considered like a surrogate of grazing pressure being high near the water and low away from it. The main aim of this study is to investigate overgrazing effects on acceptability of fodder plants along a grazing gradien...

Management and Soil care, Belgium – Donald.Gabriels@ugent.be c Flemish Government, Environment, Nature and Energy Department, Belgium – koen.desmet@lne.vlaanderen.be d Institut des regions arides de Medenine, Tunisia – med.ouessar@ira.agrinet.tn, (Azaiez.ouledbelgacem, taamallah.houcine)@ira.rnrt.tn KEY WORDS: Geographic object-based image analysis...

Grazing damages primary production and trampling compacts the soil, thereby reducing organic matter and increase sandy dune. The primary production and soil surface were studied simultaneously in both grazed and protected range sites with two different soil types; sandy and limestone. Vegetation characteristics, in particular productivity cover, di...

A study was carried out in northern Africa to investigate vegetation in Bou Hedma National Park 13 years after it was completely protected from livestock grazing and other anthropogenic activities which have largely depleted the vegetation. This vegetation was compared with that in seriously overgrazed area outside the park, where negative influenc...

Abstract When grass species are used to reseed depleted drylands, grazing is often prescribed during the establishment phase. Total protection from grazing often leads to the presence of persistent weed species and is hard to accept by land users keen to graze reseeded land as soon as possible. The particular case of reseeding arid Mediterranean ce...

In Tunisia, Artemisia herba-alba Asso. is a very common steppe species of the natural rangelands. It is also well known as an aromatic and medicinal species. In spite of its adaptation to the difficult ecological conditions (xeric soils, aridity⋯), the natural habitats of Artemisia in Tunisia have obviously regressed these last years due to its ove...

Grazing of the first year reseeded rangelands by palatable species is often proscribed. However, total protection may often lead to persistent weed problems and is hard to accept by land users keen to graze reseeded land as soon as possible. The present study aims at testing the case of reseeding arid Mediterranean cereal fallows with native palata...