Mahesh Kumar Gaur

• Ph.D.
• Principal Scientist at Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI)

The Cold Desert of Leh-Ladakh is situated in the northernmost part of India and experiences extreme temperatures ranging from-30°C to 30°C. This region is home to indigenous communities that have a rich traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), which has been deeply ingrained in their close relationship with the environment for centuries. TEK has ena...

Situated in the northernmost reaches of India lies the Cold Desert of Leh-Ladakh, the temperatures fluctuate dramatically from -30°C to 30°C. This region is inhabited by indigenous communities whose traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is deeply intertwined with their environment, aiding them in adapting and thriving in this harsh landscape. Over...

Ladakh, a high-altitude cold arid region, exhibits conspicuous signs of climate change across its vast landscape. The unique biodiversity of Ladakh faces various challenges due to both exponential anthropogenic activities and the significant threat of climate change to the region's environmental landscape and physiographical variations. The region'...

The state of Rajasthan is famous worldwide for its rich culture, handicrafts, splendour of architecture, colorful and royal haute couture, and a place of unique hospitality, which puts its status as one of the world's top tourist destinations. Physiographically, Rajasthan is divided into four major regions: the Western Thar Desert, the Aravalli Ran...

The consequences of nature's course results in changes in landforms. Water flow in the river carries silt and accumulates the suspended sediment fluxes in river catchments. Volcanoes allow molten rock or magma to create rock formations, and in the same way, stimulated by the forces of wind on the dry sands of deserted environments and coastal areas...

Shyok and Nubra Valleys are located in tectonically active, Ladakh Himalayan Zone. The Shyok River is a tributary of the mighty Indus River and joins it at Keris, to the east of Skardu town, whereas the Nubra River is a tributary of the Shyok River, forming a Y-shaped valley to the northeast of Diskit town. The region experiences cold and arid cond...

As one of the Earth’s most important natural resources, soil plays a prominent role in regulating ecosystem services, human food production systems and in facilitating a region’s sustainable development. Of late, due recognition has been given to soil sciences and soil information systems as they act as a core to achieve the targets of land degrada...

Climate change is expected to have a significant impact on the hydrological cycle, which includes precipitation, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture. The most visible sign of climate change is change/increase in temperature. The evapotranspiration or crop water requirement is the most sensitive to temperature changes. Therefore, any temperature c...

The meteorological phenomenon are the prime agents in causing extreme events in the arid and semi-arid areas. These are drought and famines, flood, sand and dust storms, etc. The response to the climate change varies with the deterioration of global climate warming. GIS, Remote Sensing and GPS are the modern tools which play significant role in the...

Snow cover is an important feature for the supply of freshwater and influences climatic hydrology at various altitudes, especially in mountain regions. Snow is a significant component of the environmental threat. In order to map and realize the extent of snow cover at high altitudes, continuous monitoring is therefore necessary. Data from satellite...

Arid and semi-arid areas are now facing a threefold holistic crisis: economic, food, and climate. What has emerged from these crises is the vital importance of inter-linkages among them on the one hand, and the missed opportunities in putting these pieces together on the other. This book has tried to explore these challenges though in-depth discuss...

Based on primary data collected from 250 households rearing sheep, the socio-economic determinants of sheep migration and major constraints faced by them in arid region of Rajasthan was investigated in the year 2013-14. Pucca house, electricity and veterinary services in the villages significantly restrained the migration decision of households. Th...

Soils of Ladakh are under active development stage and vary highly in their characteristics. The study was carried out in varied land use systems to study the soil physic-properties and nutrient status of soil profiles. All the studied profiles varied in their characteristics as land use changed. At all the profiles, a pattern of decree in availabl...

Soils of Ladakh are under active development stage and vary highly in their characteristics. The study was carried out in varied land use systems to study the soil physic-properties and nutrient status of soil profiles. All the studied profiles varied in their characteristics as land use changed. At all the profiles, a pattern of decree in availabl...

Groundwater assumes prime importance in arid areas like western Rajasthan where there is no other source of water. To meet the demand of ever-increasing population and economic development, groundwater has been indiscriminately exploited. An attempted has been made to assess the groundwater scenario of western Rajasthan over a long period of time...

The topic of food security covers aspects at all spatial levels from local to global, and from an interdisciplinary and systemic food systems perspective. We will focus, as our central theme in this chapter, on basic food security being the provision of essential food for survival. We are talking about essential food for a reasonably healthy life....

Arid and semi-arid regions cover more than 50% of the total geographical area in India which is highly populated, water-limited with warm drylands. There is an expectation that the area of drylands will expand under several scenarios of climate change. Maintaining food and nutritional security in this growing rural population of 265 million is a ma...

The situation in India, using the western part of Rajasthan as special case study, as it pertains to land use change, food security and undernourishment is described. The changing circumstances in rural areas, in particular, are putting pressure on land and water that are vital to food production at a time when human and livestock populations are i...

This chapter reports on a study in the Ladakh region of northern India where resource-poor farming communities are exposed to multiple drivers of climate change from water scarcity on land and mountain resources to land degradation, placing additional stress on challenged ecosystems, economic growth and livelihoods.

This concluding chapter is an attempt to provide a synthesis of the multiple issues around food security under conditions of climate variability. It takes account of the various interacting factors that impinge on nutrition, health, security, and well-being of people across the globe. Specific case studies zero–in on problems and consider prospects...

Land quality varies and determines to a large extent the land use systems adopted in a region or area. There are strong links between biophysical processes and economic choices at local, regional and global levels. Understanding the relationships between land attributes, land degradation, agricultural productivity and food security is a major chall...

This chapter reviews and clarifies the relationship between climate change and food security with special reference to livestock production, human nutrition and health. Micronutrient deficiency remains a serious problem in Indonesia with approximately 100 million people, or 40% of the population, suffering from one or more micronutrient deficiencie...

There is an enormous stress on livelihood analysis of rural communities and their economies. Village Common Property Resources (CPRs) have played a substantial economic role for the sustenance in rural areas of the drylands. The CPRs of drylands of western Rajasthan, India show a varied range of habitats due to strong functional disparities in topo...

Management of available natural resources is of utmost importance for the economic prosperity of any region. Use of Geospatial Information System provides very useful information about available natural resources in space and time. Important policy decisions can be taken on the basis of such information. Remote sensing provides important informatio...

This volume analyzes the global challenges of food security, land use changes, and climate change impacts on food production in order to recommend sustainable development policies, anticipate future food services and demands, and identify the economic benefits and trade-offs of meeting food security demands and achieving climate change mitigation o...

The snow cover is greatly diverse in distribution due to landscape, slope, duration, wind, etc. However, the snow build-up and spatial patterns play an important role in the hydrological cycle. These characteristics can be determined through a number of weather station which widely represents the entire glacier and hilly region of Leh-Ladakh to sup...

This book fills a gap in literature admirably. It gets away from species lists and designation of species and habitats as endangered or at risk. Instead, it opens up discussion on a range of issues relating to the important matters of biodiversity, land management, and efforts at conservation (wise use) of natural resources that support an area’s b...

Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC., an invasive alien plant species, is known as a threat to biodiversity and ecosystem services world over. It has heavily invaded community grazing lands (CGLs) in the Indian Thar Desert. The present study reports effects of four canopy sizes, (i.e. small, medium, large and no-canopy/open plot), of P. julflora shrub o...

Ranges and pastures are the backbone of the animal rearing in arid zone. The climatic adversities, fodder availability for large animal population in the region completely depends on these pastures. Heavy grazing pressure, poor management and poor rainfall conditions are only responsible for poor yield and low carrying capacity (0.68 ACU ha-1) of t...

Rangelands play an important role in the livelihood of local communities and wildlife. In this paper, however, the three main roles of rangelands in low rainfall areas will be discussed in the following sections: (i) as a feed source for livestock production; (ii) a base of survival for local communities, their institutions and management practices...

Ranges and pastures are the backbone of the animal rearing in arid zone. The climatic adversities, fodder availability for large animal population in the region completely depends on these pastures. Heavy grazing pressure, poor management and poor rainfall conditions are only responsible for poor yield and low carrying capacity (0.68 ACU ha-1) of t...

An Indian arid region with extreme and harsh weather conditions is the highly populated arid regions in the world (127 person km-2). People living in the arid regions practice the mixed farming combining rain-fed cropping, livestock rearing and other income generating activities to sustain their livelihood. Agroforestry is traditionally practiced b...

Common property resources are areas of land or water being used by a community or a group of communities. These have special significance to peoples and communities who depend on them for their livelihood. The commons in all arid districts of India include village pastures, community forests, wasteland, common threshing grounds, waste dumps, waters...

In this concluding chapter we seek to draw wisdom from the knowledge found in the 15 chapters that make up the contents of this book. We are particularly aware of the vital role that sociology plays in the decisions taken on daily basis about how to manage the land. It is clear too that the present dominant “desertification paradigm” needs to be su...

The long-term future of traditional land uses, especially arid zone pastoralism, is discussed in the light of environmental, economic, social, and political changes. Apart from these, climate change impact and other upheavals attributed to global change with the water, soil, food energy (WSFE) nexus and its implications are also discussed in this c...

Arid lands are a vital part of the earth’s human and physical environments. Human population is thin except in Indian arid zone, which is one of the most densely populated arid zones of the world. Arid land ecosystems play a major role in global biophysical processes by reflecting and absorbing solar radiation and maintaining the balance of atmosph...

This edited volume is devoted to the examination of the implications of the inevitable changes wrought by global change on the welfare and livelihoods of tens of millions of people who live in dryland regions. Global change is more than just climate change and the ramifications of changing trade patterns (geopolitical and economic aspects), the shi...

Hot arid regions of India lies between 24-29 o North latitude and 70-76 o East longitude covering an area of 317000 sq. km, which are spread over in the state of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Telengana, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Particular in Rajasthan, Acacia senegal (L.) Willdenow or Acacia seyal (Fam. Leguminosae) is an important species...

Acacia senegal (L.) Willdenow or Acacia seyal (Fam. Leguminosae) is native to arid and semi-arid region of sub-Saharan Africa. In Indian sub-continent, species is exotic but has been well naturalized. Acacia senegal is an important tree species, the source of gum Arabic is found in the desert state of Rajasthan, especially in arid western Rajasthan...

Tis edited volume is devoted to the examination of the implications of the inevitable changes wrought by global change on the welfare and livelihoods of tens of millions of people who live in arid regions. Global change is more than just climate change and the ramifcations of changing trade patterns (geopolitical and economic aspects), the shif to...

On-screen visual interpretation of IRS AWiFS data (three season i.e., Rabi, summer and Kharif) in GIS environment on 1:500, 000 scale has been carried out. Geo-database was created using ArcGIS software package based on National Spatial Frame work on 1:250K with LCC projection and WGS 84 datum. Base layers of administrative boundaries, settlements,...

The need of national development demands a comprehensive approach towards the management of natural resources. Management of natural resources on sustainable basis requires long term monitoring. Accurate inventory, assessment and periodic monitoring of resources enables the policy makers to keep an eye on optimal utilization of resources and develo...

The annual aggregate spatially normal rainfall is extremely variable and most erratic in the western arid region of Rajasthan state. As a result, it frequently experiences spells of drought. Surface water resources are also meagre and distributed unevenly. Drought is a multi-dimensional phenomenon and its direct impacts include like withering of cr...

The annual aggregate spatially normal rainfall is extremely variable and most erratic in the western arid region of Rajasthan state. As a result, it frequently experiences spells of drought. Surface water resources are also meagre and distributed unevenly. Drought is a multi-dimensional phenomenon and its direct impacts include like withering of cr...

Introduction: About 60 percent of the world's pasture land (about 2.2 million sq km), just less than half the world's usable surface is covered by grazing systems. These are distributed between arid, semi arid and sub humid, humid, temperate and tropical highlands zones. This supports about 360 million cattle (half of which are in the humid savanna...

The condition and trend of grasslands in India at village-level to district-level is unknown today. Historical and contemporary monitoring and assessment protocols are primarily based on the wisdom, knowledge and experience of village-level revenue officer (patwari) which is just significant from the statistical point of view. Contrastingly, such g...

The availability of high-resolution Indian satellite data from IRS P-6 LISS-IV has made a significant impact on the mapping potential of varied natural and man-made resources. Land use and land cover change has become a central component in current strategies for managing natural resources and monitoring anthropogenic changes in the arid area of we...

Commission VIII, WG VIII/8 KEY WORDS: Land Use / Land Cover (LU/LC), Hydromorphology, Cartosat, SRTM, ASTER Digital Elevation Model (DEM). ABSTRACT: The influence of land use on the hydromorphological parameters has seldom been studied and most of the studies are focused on catchment land use. The objective of present study is to predict hydromorph...

Commission VIII, WG VIII/8 KEY WORDS: Land Use/Land Cover (LULC), Change Detection, Markov Model, Cellular Automata Model, Space-borne Data ABSTRACT: Rapid land use changes have taken place in many regions of India due to accelerated industrialization and urbanization. LULC monitoring is essential to understand the complexity of land use changes ov...

Satellite-based technique of global positioning systems (GPS) is useful for tracking long-distance livestock movement across the grazing routes and to study the specific needs of livestock herders. There are two kinds of GPS tracking systems: live and real-time tracking, and passive tracking. Real-time GPS tracking is used to keep an eye on livesto...

Livestock rearing is an important pathway out of poverty for both pastoralist communities and mixed crop-livestock farmers in drylands. Pastoral enterprises make an important contribution to the state, as well as to the national economy, despite their location in the most drought-prone part of India Livestock keepers move their animals in search of...

Desert regions are familiar faces in many pages of history of the world. The earliest civilizations and two of the world's major religions were born here.

Remote sensing with its advantages of spatial, spectral and temporal availability of data covering large areas within short time has become a very handy tool in assessing, monitoring and conserving groundwater resources. Hydrogeomorphological studies coupled with hydrogeological and structural/lineament have proved to be very effective tool to disc...

Satellite-based technique of global positioning systems (GPS) is useful for tracking long-distance livestock movement across the grazing routes md to study the specific needs of livestock herders. There are two kinds of GPS tracking systems: live md real-time tracking, and passive tracking. Real-time GPS tracking is used to keep an eye on livestock...

A geomorphological map of arid western Rajasthan has been prepared using a recently developed classification system for national mapping in India at 1:50,000 scale. The mapping involved digital interpretation of the false colour composite (FCC) of images of 2005-06 from LISS-III scanner in the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS), followed by fiel...

A policy goal of many governments around the world is to increase the efficiency with which they deliver services such as water, electricity, transportation and communication to the public. A wide variety of methods can be used to accomplish this goal, and it useful to categorize and distinguish some of these methods. To privatize an organization...

Arid and semi-arid lands cover approximately one third of the total surface of the earth. The dry land areas are characterized by irregularity and shortage of rainfall, prolonged dry seasons, high temperature and high evaporation. Such variation in climatic factors makes dry lands more fragile and prone to land degradation and desertification. The...

Poverty and land degradation are major problems in majority of world dry lands, where meagre vegetative coverage (of forests and trees) contribute significantly to rural livelihoods. In order to eradicate poverty in the dry lands, it is important to protect the land from deforestation, fragmentation, degradation, drought and sometimes flash floods....

The Thar Desert of western India is known for its rich and ancient culture system and traditions. The communities have long been part of the Thar Desert ecosystem and have evolved specific strategies to live in harmony with its hostile environment. This culture has provided several miracle plants of immense food and medicinal value to modern civili...

Landsat MSS digital data provide an important means for the study of sand dune morphology and distribution, land cover change and desertification monitoring. Two images, one each of Landsat-l and Landsat-5 MSS were used to determine sand dunes, their change and desertification by human activities from 1973 to 1986. Five dune classes were observed:...