Climate Variability Impacts on Land Use and Livelihoods in Drylands
Abstract
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 shift to the market economy, demographic factors (population growth, urbanization and re-settlement), receive attention here. Land use change specialists, policy makers and natural resource management agencies will find the book very useful.
Chapters focus on examples that are drawn from a number of sources including previously unpublished studies on the impact of climate change, markets and economics on pastoralist and dryland farming households. The key focus is to provide readers with insights into the real world implications of change (including an analysis of the drivers of change) on these vulnerable groups within dryland societies. The role of humans as agents of these changes is canvassed. A regional analysis of the world's drylands is also performed including those in Australia, Argentina, India, North America, China, North Africa, Central Asia and Southern Africa.
Chapters (16)
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 atmospheric constituents. Water scarcity is the predominant feature of arid lands. In hyperarid, arid and semiarid regions, water is scarce most of the time, and human settlements may cluster around rare sources of water such as rivers, springs, wells and oases. These arid lands are also characterized by persistent water scarcity, frequent drought, high climatic variability and various forms of land degradation, including desertification and loss of biodiversity. These areas occupy 41% area of the earth’s land surface and are home to roughly 2.5 billion people who rely directly on arid land ecosystem services for their livelihoods and support 50% of the world’s livestock where 44% of the world’s food is grown. As per the aridity index, there are four categories of arid lands, hyperarid, arid, semiarid and dry subhumid regions. Livelihood sustainability in these regions is threatened by a complex and interrelated range of social, economic and environmental changes that present significant challenges to researchers, policymakers and, above all, rural land users. The present chapter provides an introductory overview of arid lands of the world, its distribution, causes of aridity, inhabitants and various types of land uses for livelihood.
This is a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of trends, events and forecasts based on the work of multiple UN agencies and multilateral and bilateral donor organizations working in many drylands around the world. Drylands are defined, and the merits of the commonly accepted terminology is discussed. A major focus is on Africa, especially sub-Saharan countries and those in the Horn of Africa, but examples are drawn from other continents. Recommendations are presented that address the solution of several problems (such as poverty, land degradation and impacts of climate change) at the same time.
The world’s arid lands are living example of nature/culture dynamics in the face of global changes in both their biophysical and sociocultural environments. These water-stressed biomes are inherently vulnerable to environmental challenges on any scale and from whatever source. This vulnerability is being subjected to a veritable barrage of stresses that are truly global in their range and influences. Yet even while they are attempting to rectify the consequences of these past efforts to increase the productivity of their lands, or at least to adapt to them in the face of a changing climate, they are coming under pressure to respond to further global challenges. The arid lands provide a rich focus for exploring the nature and consequences of many of these changes. The crux of the argument presented here is that the situation is now so dire that nothing less than a major change in the prevailing worldviews and thus in the dominant paradigm that they inform is essential.
This chapter is an overview of natural and human-made change processes and the ways in which they affect the structure and function of arid lands with special reference to conditions on the vast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau—a cold and arid region that is sometimes called the “roof of the world.” We begin with a discussion about the nature of change and provide an introduction to some of the theoretical underpinnings to the current thinking about how change occurs.
The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) is a vast area in the west of China. Its climate is cold and arid. Most of it is dry land where the aridity index ranges from 0.03 to 0.35 with a growing period of less than 90 days and environmental risk coefficient of variation greater than 25%. QTP is home to millions of Tibetans and other ethnic minorities who eke out a living from opportunistic cropping or from seminomadic transhumant pastoralism. As with other high-altitude regions, the severity of climate change especially warming has a greater-than-usual impact. This is because of the narrow bandwidth of microclimates on the slopes and the vast differences in plant assemblages with increasing altitude. Alpine areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change because of the effect of altitudinal compression that allows major changes over short distances.
This chapter provides an overview of the integrated watershed management in drylands in Iran that cover 65% of the land area. We explain the concepts, characteristics and available actions associated with integrated watershed management (IWM) in Iran. We make recommendation for further developing the IWM strategies in Iran.
This chapter traces the history of human occupation of the Thar Desert and resource use over a 5,000-year period but focuses on the present and future prospects for the lands and its peoples. Climate change trends and future predictions are presented with commentary on government response in the face of impending crises over water availability and growing populations of both people and livestock.
This chapter provides a synoptic overview of the aridlands on the North American continent. It traces the early history of this vast region from pre-Columbian times to the present and reviews forecasts of the likely impact of global change (including climate change) on the lands and its peoples. The current state of aridlands in North America reflects a legacy of historical land and water use. The allocation of water and the efforts to reconcile competing claims for water are highlighted. The interplay of public and private ownership of land and water rights receives attention here. Land use has intensified in recent decades and urban expansion and related infrastructure development as well as industry and mining have created new demands for a dwindling water supply. Land use assignment and operational practices will arguably have a larger impact on aridland ecosystems in the next two to five decades than climate change. In the near-term, climate fluctuation and change will be important primarily as it influences the impact of land and water use and how ecosystems are impacted by, and respond to, land use change.
The Indian subcontinent, comprising of seven countries, is heavily populated and has a large area under desertification and land degradation. The extent and severity of land degradation vary across this vast land area. The terms, desert, desertification, land degradation and degraded lands/wastelands have been elaborated. The causes, both proximal and underlying as well as the consequences of desertification are discussed. Indicators for mapping, monitoring and assessment of desertification and land degradation has been discussed. Methodology for mapping and monitoring of desertification and land degradation in the Indian sub continent, using satellite data, has been presented.
China is very large country with extensive areas of drylands, many of which are suffering from land degradation. Natural disasters are common, but the major factor in the acceleration of land degradation is now recognized to be anthropogenic pressures. This chapter analyzes the situation vis-a-vis land degradation in China and explores the proximate and root causes. Land cover change has affected vegetation, as reflected in time series of NDVI scans. Future prospects for China’s drylands are outlined in this chapter.
This chapter provides a synoptic overview of drylands in the vast Mediterranean Basin region that covers North Africa and SW Asia and the southern parts of Europe. The lands around the Mediterranean Sea form the largest of the five world regions subjected to a Mediterranean climate – long warm to hot dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters. Many areas of the Mediterranean Basin are classified as drylands and hence are prone to desertification, but there are differences between the southern and the northern parts of the basin. In the southern part, most dryland areas are classified as arid and hyperarid, while in the northern parts, only few arid areas, but many dry subhumid and semiarid drylands, are found. The semiarid areas are currently the most affected by desertification, but the concern for dry subhumid areas is increasing. Pressures on land and water resources are increasing in response to rising populations and new technologies that allow land conversion to proceed at a faster pace. The argument is made that development per se is a major contributor to land degradation. Addressing land degradation, desertification and drought in the Mediterranean Basin includes policy reforms and enforcement, as well as research and extension that promote sustainable land use and restoration of already degraded lands.
Southern Africa south of 150° S latitude includes all or part of several countries. The situation in the dryland portion of each of them is described and the underlying factors are explained. Land degradation affects significant areas of most of the countries. Measures taken to arrest and reverse land degradation are explained. Climate change, trends and projections are discussed. Various scenarios are offered.
Two thirds of continental Argentina are arid and semiarid rangelands. These rangelands include five phytogeographic regions: (1) Puna, (2) Chaco Occidental, (3) Monte, (4) Caldenal, and (5) Patagonia. This review includes and begins with a brief overview of the climate, soil, and vegetation characteristics of each region. After that, the major causes of degradation or desertification of these territories are indicated, together with the previous and current impacts on the water resources; the physicochemical and biological soil characteristics, and vegetation structure; productive activities; economy; and society. Fortunately, in contrast with various other arid and semiarid regions in the world, a threshold of losses of renewable natural resources has not yet been reached as a result of such degradation or desertification of the study ecological systems. Beyond this threshold, reestablishment of benefits which could have been obtained from rational (not abusive) utilization of those resources will be impossible. Our aim is an improved land use that allows sustainable production, the magnitude of which will depend upon its previous degree of degradation or desertification.
Climate change is probably one of the greatest threats facing humans into the next century. The effects of a changing climate in Australia will be most strongly felt in the rangelands; arid and semiarid grazing and marginal farming land that makes up about 70% of the land area of the Australian continent. Over the next century, Australia’s rangelands are likely to experience hotter temperatures, lower annual precipitation, and more frequent droughts and dust storms. These conditions will have a marked influence on pastoralism, dryland agriculture, and the sustainability of agricultural enterprises, its people, and their communities. Climate change will reduce ground-storey plant cover, reduce livestock and crop yields, place a greater burden on a declining pastoral land, and increase land degradation and soil nutrient loss. Increasing climatic variability will affect local communities by intensifying the displacement of people from rural areas, reducing community size and the provision of infrastructure and health services, and placing an increasing social burden on communities. Strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change include the use of different breeds of grazing animals, altered livestock rotation systems, crop desertification, the use of new crop varieties, and development of management strategies that reduce the risk of flooding, wildfire, and drought. Overall, the adaptive capacity of rangeland managers will depend on their financial and social resilience and their ability to innovate and access new information. Overcoming policy and social constraints to adaptation will need to be a high priority of government.
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 chapter.
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 subjected to more rigorous examination. The pace of change and the already degraded state of much of the world’s aridlands leave little room for optimism about the land and its peoples over the next 20–50 years. We identify research priorities and conclude with a fervent hope that the various initiatives such as the land degradation neutral world can achieve its targets.
... Approximately 41% of Earth's land surface is covered by arid and semi-arid areas [18] (Figure 4). Based on the aridity index, there are four major classes of arid lands: hyperarid, arid, semi-arid and dry subhumid [19]. Semi-arid regions are more extensive (15.2% of Earth's land surface), followed by arid regions (10.6%), dry sub-humid (8.7%), and hyper-arid (6.6%). ...
... Semi-arid regions are more extensive (15.2% of Earth's land surface), followed by arid regions (10.6%), dry sub-humid (8.7%), and hyper-arid (6.6%). Water scarcity, food scarcity, and harsh weather conditions are all common problems in dry regions [19]. Arid areas are characterized by high aridity (>70% aridity index), extreme temperature, high solar radiation, low and non-uniform distribution of rainfall, low humidity, and high wind velocity. ...
... The regional extent of arid and semi-arid soils in different parts of the world (Modified from[19]). ...
Soil organic carbon (SOC) pool has been extensively studied in the carbon (C) cycling of terrestrial ecosystems. In dryland regions, however, soil inorganic carbon (SIC) has received increasing attention due to the high accumulation of SIC in arid soils contributed by its high temperature, low soil moisture, less vegetation, high salinity, and poor microbial activities. SIC storage in dryland soils is a complex process comprising multiple interactions of several factors such as climate, land use types, farm management practices, irrigation, inherent soil properties, soil biotic factors, etc. In addition, soil C studies in deeper layers of drylands have opened-up several study aspects on SIC storage. This review explains the mechanisms of SIC formation in dryland soils and critically discusses the SIC content in arid and semi-arid soils as compared to SOC. It also addresses the complex relationship between SIC and SOC in dryland soils. This review gives an overview of how climate change and anthropogenic management of soil might affect the SIC storage in dryland soils. Dryland soils could be an efficient sink in C sequestration through the formation of secondary carbonates. The review highlights the importance of an in-depth understanding of the C cycle in arid soils and emphasizes that SIC dynamics must be looked into broader perspective vis-à-vis C sequestration and climate change mitigation.
... Globally, drylands occupy more than 40% of the land area, house roughly 2.5 billion people, and support approximately 50% of livestock and 45% of food production (Gaur and Squires, 2018). Arid and semi-arid drylands are a vital part of the Earth's human and physical environments. ...
... Arid and semi-arid drylands are a vital part of the Earth's human and physical environments. They are characterised by biophysical constraints such as rising temperatures, low annual mean precipitation, increasing weather extremes, erratic rainfall, frequent droughts, and substantial seasonal and inter-annual variations, making these drylands particularly vulnerable to climatic variability and change (Ramarao et al., 2019;Gaur and Squires, 2018;Yadav and Lal, 2018). These drylands also exhibit ecological constraints such as discontinuous resource availability, poor soil organic matter and nutrients, persistent water scarcity, desertification, land degradation, loss of biodiversity, resulting in impacting the livelihoods of local communities (Gaur and Squires, 2018). ...
... They are characterised by biophysical constraints such as rising temperatures, low annual mean precipitation, increasing weather extremes, erratic rainfall, frequent droughts, and substantial seasonal and inter-annual variations, making these drylands particularly vulnerable to climatic variability and change (Ramarao et al., 2019;Gaur and Squires, 2018;Yadav and Lal, 2018). These drylands also exhibit ecological constraints such as discontinuous resource availability, poor soil organic matter and nutrients, persistent water scarcity, desertification, land degradation, loss of biodiversity, resulting in impacting the livelihoods of local communities (Gaur and Squires, 2018). ...
Climate variability and change coupled with small landholdings, low land productivity and water scarcity in arid and semi-arid regions contribute to environmental degradation, reduced agricultural productivity, and increased vulnerability to the rural communities. With the aid of the fuzzy cognitive maps constructed by 427 community groups with 4–5 members in each group, drawn from 96 villages in 12 districts of arid and semi-arid India, the paper evaluates the effectiveness of various adaptation pathways. The ongoing adaptations in arid and semi-arid India face adaptation deficits. The FCM-based simulations revealed that integrated adaptation measures that embrace nature-based solutions, including integrated water resource management, natural farming-assisted soil rejuvenation, and improved agricultural productivity are most likely to enhance the resilience of small and marginalised farming communities to climate variability and change. Facilitation of such adaptation measures requires inclusive and adaptive local institutions, sufficient financial assistance, and climate information services. Besides, gender-nuanced, inclusive, and adaptive governance and processes would be helpful for the implementation of appropriate adaptation interventions in arid and semi-arid drylands worldwide. Hence policy-makers must enable polycentric and adaptive governance, and inclusive institutions and processes. The emphasis on multiple factors in a socio-ecological system often makes it difficult to understand the critical role of a particular factor. However, the FCM-based simulations in this study helped us overcome such limitations.
... Arid and semi-arid drylands are particularly vulnerable to these challenges. Drylands cover approximately 40% of the global land area and support 45% of the global agriculture (Gaur and Squires 2018;Singh and Chudasama 2021). Extreme intra and interannual climatic variability in these regions presents challenges for economic development and food security (IPCC 2021;Singh and Chudasama 2021). ...
... Extreme intra and interannual climatic variability in these regions presents challenges for economic development and food security (IPCC 2021;Singh and Chudasama 2021). Drylands are especially vulnerable to the rising mean annual temperatures, decreasing annual precipitation, erratic rainfall, and more frequent and severe droughts associated with climate change due to unique characteristics associated with low resource availability, land degradation, biodiversity loss, erosion, and desertification (Gaur and Squires 2018). Rural areas with persistent poverty and low access to social services and infrastructure are at particular risk, such as those found in remote regions of sub-Saharan Africa (Connolly-Boutin and Smit 2016; Serdeczny et al. 2017). ...
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of droughts in semi-arid regions. Small-scale water storage can help build drought resilience, particularly in rural areas with no access to formal water infrastructure. Sand dams, which store water by capturing water in sand-filled ephemeral rivers during the wet season, are one promising storage option. While emerging studies indicate tentative evidence of their benefits, the focus on resilience is under-addressed. This study evaluates the impact of sand dams on resilience to climate variability and changes through a participatory case study approach in the Shashe catchment, a semi-arid catchment shared by Botswana and Zimbabwe. Participatory research was conducted via site inspections, focus group discussions, and interviews at 20 sand dams utilized by 19 villages across the Zimbabwean portion of the Shashe catchment. The results show that sand dams significantly improved local water availability, most notably with a significant increase in the number of months per year that water could be collected from the dam site (mean = 6.5 months before, to mean = 10.9 months after construction, p < 0.05). This increase is also reflected in drought years (mean = 5.8 months before, to mean = 9.6 months after construction, p < 0.05). Sand dams also contribute to the adaptive capacity of communities via key benefits such as diversification of livelihood activities, improved health and hygiene, and reduced erosion in the surrounding area due to increased vegetation. In sum, the study demonstrates clear benefits to communities facing drought, supporting calls to elevate sand dams on the development agenda.
... The soil carbon pool is one of the key carbon pools in terrestrial ecosystems and plays an essential role in the global carbon cycle [1,2]. Arid and semi-arid areas account for more than 40% of the terrestrial surface of Earth [3,4] and contain nearly 10% of the global soil organic carbon (SOC) stock [5]. Arid and semi-arid areas are extremely fragile ecosystems and are particularly sensitive to global change in the terrestrial ecosystems, and are characterized by their vulnerability to external environmental influences such as extreme weather, erratic precipitation, frequent droughts, and anthropogenic destruction [4,6]. ...
... Arid and semi-arid areas account for more than 40% of the terrestrial surface of Earth [3,4] and contain nearly 10% of the global soil organic carbon (SOC) stock [5]. Arid and semi-arid areas are extremely fragile ecosystems and are particularly sensitive to global change in the terrestrial ecosystems, and are characterized by their vulnerability to external environmental influences such as extreme weather, erratic precipitation, frequent droughts, and anthropogenic destruction [4,6]. Consequently, slight changes can have doubly significant impacts on the regional or global carbon cycle [7]. ...
This study explored the relationship between soil organic carbon (SOC) and root distribution, with the aim of evaluating the carbon stocks and sequestration potential under five plant communities (Alhagi sparsifolia, Tamarix ramosissima, Reaumuria soongorica, Haloxylon ammodendron, and Phragmites communis) in an arid region, the Sangong River watershed desert ecosystem. Root biomass, ecological factors, and SOC in different layers of a 0–100 cm soil profile were investigated. The results demonstrated that almost all living fine root biomass (11.78–34.41 g/m2) and dead fine root biomass (5.64–15.45 g/m2) levels were highest in the 10–20 cm layer, except for the P. communis community, which showed the highest living and dead fine root biomass at a depth of 60–70 cm. Fine root biomass showed strong seasonal dynamics in the five communities from June to October. The biomass levels of the A. sparsifolia (138.31 g/m2) and H. ammodendron (229.73 g/m2) communities were highest in August, whereas those of the T. ramosissima (87.76 g/m2), R. soongorica (66.29 g/m2), and P. communis (148.31 g/m2) communities were highest in September. The SOC of the five communities displayed strong changes with increasing soil depth. The mean SOC value across all five communities was 77.36% at 0–30 cm. The highest SOC values of the A. sparsifolia (3.08 g/kg), T. ramosissima (2.35 g/kg), and R. soongorica (2.34 g/kg) communities were found in June, and the highest value of the H. ammodendron (2.25 and 2.31 g/kg, p > 0.05) community was found in June and September. The highest SOC values of the P. communis (1.88 g/kg) community were found in July. Fine root production and turnover rate were 50.67–486.92 g/m2/year and 1.25–1.98 times per year. The relationships among SOC, fine root biomass, and ecological factors (soil water content and soil bulk density) were significant for all five communities. Based on the results, higher soil water content and soil conductivity favored the decomposition of root litter and increased fine root turnover, thereby facilitating SOC formation. Higher pH and bulk density levels are not conducive to soil biological activity and SOC mineralization, leading to increased SOC levels in desert regions.
... This is evidenced by abrupt changes in weather conditions necessitating unreliable weather patterns that have strong negative impacts on livestock production, vegetation index cover, and natural resources management [24]. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is among these regions in the world where the effects of climate change and climatic variability are being felt hard [25,26]. These environmental challenges are likely to affect Resources 2022, 11,27 3 of 14 more of the pastoralist communities whose main livelihoods are dependent on livestock production [27,28]. ...
... This study, therefore, concurs with other studies that indicated there is growing evidence in the frequency and extent of droughts, which are increasing as a result of climatic variations and overall global warming [17,19]. We also agree with other studies conducted that indicated that drought severity and related climate extremes have a greater impact on general livestock production, market access, and price stability [23,25]. Drought is the outcome of climate variability (rainfall & temperatures, specifically), which contributes significantly to the increasing instability of production and ecological resilience, hence affecting the market prices of camel milk products. ...
Dryland areas in northern Kenya experience challenges due to various factors, including environmental degradation associated with unstable weather conditions and climate change. These and related risks and stressors are threats to the sustenance of camel milk production for many of Kenya’s northern communities. We conducted a study among the pastoral communities in Isiolo County whose principal source of livelihood is dependent on camel production. In this paper, we discuss the drivers of the environmental factors influencing the resilience and sustainability of the camel milk value chain in Isiolo County, northern Kenya. We analyzed (i) the internal factors that influence the system, which includes: the categories and economic contributions of livestock-based value chains, the occupation of the camel milk value chain micro players, and land-use practices in Isiolo County, and (ii) the external factors influencing the system: the climatic variability (2014–2017) and its effect on the camel milk value chain, and the vegetation condition index (VCI) indicating drought trends for Isiolo County (2002–2020). The study adopted a field survey through interviews with randomly selected households involved in the camel milk value chain by using a survey questionnaire and a survey guide for focus group discussions (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII). The results from the study showed camel milk as a dominant value chain among the livestock-based value chain products in Isiolo County, the variations in quantities of camel milk supplied due to changes in seasonality, and we show that the current system is not sustainable. We conclude with recommendations to establish a modernized camel milk value chain based on improved natural resources management for a resilient and sustainable system.
... A major urban challenge is how to protect the environment (especially ecosystem services) and human health while meeting the growing demand for water and development that is driven by population growth and affected by climate variability and land use change [28]. Increasing demands for clean water, combined with changing land use practices and aging infrastructure (especially pipelines and canals), pose significant threats to the water resources [29]. ...
... The reform and opening policy, which took place in the 1980s (see above) has significantly transformed China's rural areas. A large amount of rural labor force has moved to and is working in cities due to the attraction of the lifestyle and the prosperity that cities can offer, resulting in many hollow villages [29][30][31][32][33]. In contrast, urbanization and industrialization have caused a dramatic change in the land use and natural landscape of rural areas, along with a significant loss of cultivated land, a spatial expansion of the surrounding cities and an increase in the construction of new rural settlements [30][31][32][33]. ...
The rural-urban (peri-urban) interface zones are important places that generate demands for ecosystem goods and services (EG & S). Urban regions face transitions in land use that affect ecosystem services (EG & S) and thus human wellbeing. Especially in urban areas with high population densities (as in most of China) and high demand for EG & S, the future availability of such services must be considered in order to promote effective and sustainable decision making and prevent further ecosystem degradation. The challenge for local government planners and land managers is to find tools that allow relevant data to be collected and analyzed. Ideally, such tools should be able to give a rapid assessment, and not involve large teams of highly trained personnel or incur high costs. The paper reports on the development and trial of such a tool. The paper has three main parts. First, we present a brief overview of the current and developing situation in China, in relation to urbanization, population shifts and the creation of peri-urban areas (PUAs). Next, we build on insights from the literature and from discussions with village heads and county- and prefecture-level officials to develop an understanding of their needs for tools to help planning and land management within the constraints of the national policy. Lastly, a “template” was derived from our multi-method approach that provided a new technical tool for the rapid assessment of the value of EG & S in each of five land use categories. The tool embodies a way to address trade-offs between environmental, social and economic values in the transition zone between rural and urban areas. The tool was trialed in QinBei District in Guangxi Autonomous Region in south China and judged to be useful and adaptable to other rural–urban regions.
... Rural and subsistence livelihoods in this region are highly dependent on natural resources and vulnerable to global shocks and stresses (Challinor, Wheeler, Garforth, Craufurd, & Kassam, 2007;Connolly-Boutin & Smit, 2016;Jones & Thornton, 2009). As a result, there is a growing need to understand how global environmental changes impact people and their use of land and resources (Conway et al., 2015;Gaur & Squires, 2018;Wilbanks & Kates, 1999), and to identify feedbacks between environmental processes and human activities (Coetzer-Hanack, Witkowski, & Erasmus, 2016;Nagendra, Munroe, & Southworth, 2004). This is particularly true in arid and semi-arid landscapes of low and middle income countries, where complex relationships with the land are complicated by ongoing anthropogenic change (Gaur & Squires, 2018). ...
... As a result, there is a growing need to understand how global environmental changes impact people and their use of land and resources (Conway et al., 2015;Gaur & Squires, 2018;Wilbanks & Kates, 1999), and to identify feedbacks between environmental processes and human activities (Coetzer-Hanack, Witkowski, & Erasmus, 2016;Nagendra, Munroe, & Southworth, 2004). This is particularly true in arid and semi-arid landscapes of low and middle income countries, where complex relationships with the land are complicated by ongoing anthropogenic change (Gaur & Squires, 2018). The need to understand these feedbacks is often encompassed in the call to connect "people to pixels" (Liverman, Moran, Rindfuss, & Stern, 1998). ...
... Recent developments in machine learning (ML) have significantly improved mapping accuracy in complex landscapes by leveraging large datasets and optimizing feature selection (Aryal, Sitaula, and Frery 2023;Talukdar et al. 2020). By coupling ML with multi-sensor data, researchers can now track LULC changes more precisely and identify key drivers, including human population dynamics (Meyer and Turner 1992;Ouedraogo et al. 2010;, climate change and variability (Dale 1997;Gaur and Squires 2018), and growing agricultural demands (Lambin, Rounsevell, and Geist 2000). LULC change has far-reaching effects, altering carbon storage, surface energy, and water balances (Pongratz et al. 2006;Twine, Kucharik, and Foley 2004), biodiversity (Powers and Jetz 2019), and human health (Ahmad et al. 2021). ...
Northeast Brazil (NEB), about three times the area of Spain, hosts >90% of Brazil’s drylands along with tropical rain- and dry forests. Climate variability, 45–60% cloud cover, and scarce reference data limit land use and land cover (LULC) mapping accuracy to ~80% across much of the region. Here, we introduce NEB’s first context-specific LULC framework, using phenologically timed annual MODIS mosaics (2000–2020) with <0.5% pixel gaps and minimal seasonal bias. Ecoregions were individually classified using customized random forest (RF) models with 56 features – including linear spectral unmixing fractions – prior to NEB-wide integration. Binary masks excluding non-mangrove pixels during RF training significantly improved mangrove-rainforest separation. Our two-tier classification scheme uniquely distinguishes NEB shrublands nationally, aligns with global datasets (7 Level-1 classes), and preserves ecoregion detail (16 Level-2 classes). Validated against >10,000 independent points, the 2018 NEB-wide map achieved 90.5% overall accuracy at Level-1. At Level-2, ecoregional accuracies were 95.9% (Amazon), 94.3% (Atlantic Forest), 89.4% (Cerrado), and 87.9% (Caatinga). Per-pixel spatial agreement with national and global datasets ranged from 29–70%. Between the 2000 and 2020 endpoints, ~540,000 km² of NEB underwent LULC changes, based on pixel counts. Forest declined 22%, grasslands 68%, and agriculture expanded 140% – roughly 10 million soccer fields – mainly in the Cerrado MaToPiBa (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, Bahia) frontier. Meanwhile, encroachment around protected areas intensified, particularly in the Amazon. This open-access product (http://www.dsr.inpe.br/DSR/laboratorios/LAF) sets a benchmark for LULC mapping in global dryland-forest mosaics, positioning NEB as a model for data-driven land management.
... Freshwater scarcity is a growing global challenge, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where water demand is high and resources are limited [1,2]. Coastal aquifers, critical sources of freshwater for densely populated coastal areas, are increasingly threatened by overexploitation, leading to seawater intrusion and declining water quality [3]. ...
Water scarcity poses a significant threat to food security, particularly in coastal, arid, and semi-arid regions. To address this challenge, a half-strength seawater aquaponics system (approximately 250 mM NaCl) was developed to cultivate halophytes. This study investigated the growth performance of three halophytic species—ice plant, romeritos, and sea asparagus—to assess their adaptability and optimal agronomic management in a saline aquaponics setting. After rearing tilapia in half-strength seawater, four treatments were applied to the rooting medium: untreated half-strength seawater aquaculture rearing water (HSW) (C), pH-adjusted (5.5) HSW (pH), pH-adjusted (5.5) HSW supplemented with additional nutrients (pH+S), and a standard nutrient solution (NS). The findings revealed that ice plant growth was significantly enhanced by pH adjustment and nutrient supplementation, leading to improved water and potassium absorption. Conversely, romeritos and sea asparagus demonstrated stable growth across treatments, likely due to high sodium accumulation and consistent water uptake despite elevated salinity. Sea asparagus exhibited dependency on high salinity, while romeritos showed increased phosphorus accumulation with nutrient supplementation. This study suggests that while pH adjustments favor ice plant growth, romeritos and sea asparagus are resilient across diverse salinity conditions, highlighting saline aquaponics as a viable approach for halophyte cultivation in water-scarce environments.
... Global warming and desertification are the most important reasons for exploiting crops with low water requirements [1]. Arid areas occupy 46% of the planet's surface [2], receive less than 400 mm of annual precipitation, and are supported by more than 20% of the world's population [3]. Arid zones are expected to expand further, leading to an increase in the severity of droughts and food insecurity [4,5]. ...
(1) Background: Climate change has several consequences; one of them is increasing the severity of droughts. This has led to an opportunity to study arid zone plants as food sources that have potential biological activities and improve consumer health. (2) Methods: In this work, we review recent research focused on the traditional use and importance of arid zone plants, their nutritional contribution, and their beneficial effects on health when they are consumed; these effects are primarily because of their antioxidant activity, which inhibits free radicals and contributes to improved nutrition and benefits consumer health. (3) Results: Several plant-based functional food studies have shown that the consumption of bioactive compounds is a complement to drugs for preventing some chronic degenerative diseases, such as gastrointestinal diseases, diabetes, and obesity. (4) Conclusions: Given all of the previously mentioned factors, plants from arid zones are potential sources for obtaining bioactive compounds with low water requirements.
... Arid and semiarid regions, which contain 41% of the world's croplands [1], are particularly vulnerable to climate change [2]. Growers in these regions will need to adopt regenerative management practices to help reduce the risk of desertification of these vulnerable regions. ...
This on-farm study was conducted to assess the impact of six prevalent crop management practices adopted by growers in West Texas on various indicators of soil health. This study is a part of a citizen science project, where we collaborated with cotton growers who helped with standardized sample and data collection from 2017 to 2022. This project aimed to identify soil management practices that increase carbon sequestration, enhance biological activities, and improve overall soil health. We monitored soil moisture, soil organic matter (SOM), inorganic nitrogen (NH4⁺-N and NO3⁻-N) and other exchangeable nutrients, and soil microbial abundances as obtained via fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) in 85 fields, incorporating different management practices during the cotton growing season. In our study, volumetric moisture content (VWC) was increased by no-till, irrigation, and crop rotation, but the addition of residue decreased VWC. No-till, irrigation, and crop rotation increased SOM, but a cover crop decreased SOM. No-till and residue retention also increased microbial biomass carbon (MBC). Tillage, irrigation, and crop rotation influenced the abundance of the main microbial groups, including bacterial, fungi, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Additionally, water content, SOM, and microbial abundances are correlated with clay percentage. Our results indicate that no-till and crop rotation are the two most crucial soil management approaches for sustainable soil health. As such, implementing both no-till and crop rotation in the cropping systems has the most promising potential to increase the soil resilience in dryland cotton production in semiarid regions, thereby helping growers to maintain cotton production.
... Drylands also represent 40% of terrestrial net primary production (Wang et al., 2022), store a third of the planet's soil organic carbon and ∼80% of its soil inorganic carbon (Plaza et al., 2018), and have greater carbon storage in woody biomass than previously assumed (Brandt et al., 2020;Tucker et al., 2023). They also host 35% of the global human population (Wang et al., 2022) with the highest population growth rate of any ecological zone (Gaur & Squires, 2018). Livelihoods of people in drylands are tightly coupled to local ecosystem services via pastoralism and agriculture, and drylands provide extensive services including providing 60% of the world's food, a variety of critical mineral resources, and unique cultural and biological diversity (Alikhanova & Bull, 2023;Cartereau et al., 2023). ...
Dryland ecosystems cover 40% of our planet's land surface, support billions of people, and are responding rapidly to climate and land use change. These expansive systems also dominate core aspects of Earth's climate, storing and exchanging vast amounts of water, carbon, and energy with the atmosphere. Despite their indispensable ecosystem services and high vulnerability to change, drylands are one of the least understood ecosystem types, partly due to challenges studying their heterogeneous landscapes and misconceptions that drylands are unproductive “wastelands.” Consequently, inadequate understanding of dryland processes has resulted in poor model representation and forecasting capacity, hindering decision making for these at‐risk ecosystems. NASA satellite resources are increasingly available at the higher resolutions needed to enhance understanding of drylands' heterogeneous spatiotemporal dynamics. NASA's Terrestrial Ecology Program solicited proposals for scoping a multi‐year field campaign, of which Adaptation and Response in Drylands (ARID) was one of two scoping studies selected. A primary goal of the scoping study is to gather input from the scientific and data end‐user communities on dryland research gaps and data user needs. Here, we provide an overview of the ARID team's community engagement and how it has guided development of our framework. This includes an ARID kickoff meeting with over 300 participants held in October 2023 at the University of Arizona to gather input from data end‐users and scientists. We also summarize insights gained from hundreds of follow‐up activities, including from a tribal‐engagement focused workshop in New Mexico, conference town halls, intensive roundtables, and international engagements.
... La población mundial creciente continuará afectando el medio ambiente generando grandes impactos en los ecosistemas, especialmente en las zonas costeras (Malanson & Alftine, 2016), las regiones áridas tienen un clima y un entorno ecológico frágil y sensible (Wang & Qin, 2017;Wardropper & Rissman, 2019;West et al., 2017;Zhang, 2000). Los ecosistemas terrestres áridos tienen una función muy importante en los procesos biofísicos al reflejar y absorber la radiación solar y mantener el equilibrio de los componentes atmosféricos (Bawden, 2017;Gaur & Squires, 2017b, 2017aSidahmed, 2017). El desierto de Atacama es uno de los principales desiertos hiperáridos del mundo (Stein et al., 2013). ...
In this work we use Machine Learning (Randon Forest) as a tool to classify biomass and calculate vegetation indices seeking to identify the characteristics of the vegetation cover at the head of the Atacama Desert. The aim is to establish the correlation between vegetation indices and precipitation, in order to know their reliability on the climatology in this region. The geospatial analysis based on Google Earth Engine (GEE) and the processing of Landsat 5 ETM and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS images was important, for the period 1985 - 2022, which made it possible to characterize climate change. The NDVI, SAVI, GVI and RVI have been tested and validated in arid systems. The NDVI responds positively to precipitation in the wet season and weakly in the winter rainy season. It is confirmed that the high NDVI corresponds to summer, after a prolonged drought. Towards the years 2020 and 2022, an increase in vegetation cover is recorded in places with higher temperatures, evidencing climate change and reflected in biomass indices.
... As a result, drylands have one of the oldest social-ecological legacies on the planet, particularly in rural regions (Hou et al., 2020;Rienties et al., 2015;Yuniarti et al., 2018). Accordingly, a variety of ecosystem goods and services are needed to support sustainable life to maintain rural dryland systems in the long run (Gaur & Squires, 2018). This allows livelihoods improvement and development integrated in nature (Yang et al., 2018), cultural (Sainju et al., 2016) and social capital (Maaz et al., 2018). ...
Capacity building and social empowerment of the villagers are preconditions for sustainable development. Accordingly, the objective of the current study was to evaluate the structural characteristics of social capital for co-management and empowerment of rural communities by social network analysis (SNA) as a research method. According to the results, the density index in all of the studied areas was increased after the implementation of the empowerment project. In addition, on average, the reciprocity index increased nearly 30.50% in trust and 18.31% in collaboration networks in the studied villages. Thus, it could be understood that social capital and empowerment in local communities are both required and complementary. As a result, any action aimed at building the capacity of the local community, increasing social capital, and promoting trust and collaboration among local communities will ultimately lead to maintaining and strengthening the social structures of that community. Therefore, this community develops into a region, which serves as the foundation for long-term rural development. These results can be administered to other areas of research and interference such as studies of community development, participatory research, and social intervention. By exploiting these results, planners and policymakers can plan to improve the empowerment of rural communities, self-reliance, and rural development.
... Approximately 41% of the world's surface is composed of arid and semi-arid areas (Gaur and Squires, 2018), and approximately 53% of the total land in China is arid and semi-arid land (Huang et al., 2019). The arid and semi-arid areas in Northwest China have entered a period of rapid development, with accelerated urbanization and industrialization, which significantly improved social and economic development (Fang, 2019). ...
In the Anthropocene era, human activities have become increasingly complex and diversified. The natural ecosystems need higher ecological resilience to ensure regional sustainable development due to rapid urbanization and industrialization as well as other intensified human activities, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. In the study, we chose the economic belt on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains (EBNSTM) in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China as a case study. By collecting geographic data and statistical data from 2010 and 2020, we constructed an ecological resilience assessment model based on the ecosystem habitat quality (EHQ), ecosystem landscape stability (ELS), and ecosystem service value (ESV). Further, we analyzed the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of ecological resilience in the EBNSTM from 2010 to 2020 by spatial autocorrelation analysis, and explored its responses to climate change and human activities using the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. The results showed that the ecological resilience of the EBNSTM was at a low level and increased from 0.2732 to 0.2773 during 2010–2020. The spatial autocorrelation analysis of ecological resilience exhibited a spatial heterogeneity characteristic of “high in the western region and low in the eastern region”, and the spatial clustering trend was enhanced during the study period. Desert, Gobi and rapidly urbanized areas showed low level of ecological resilience, and oasis and mountain areas exhibited high level of ecological resilience. Climate factors had an important impact on ecological resilience. Specifically, average annual temperature and annual precipitation were the key climate factors that improved ecological resilience, while average annual evapotranspiration was the main factor that blocked ecological resilience. Among the human activity factors, the distance from the main road showed a negative correlation with ecological resilience. Both night light index and PM2.5 concentration were negatively correlated with ecological resilience in the areas with better ecological conditions, whereas in the areas with poorer ecological conditions, the correlations were positive. The research findings could provide a scientific reference for protecting the ecological environment and promoting the harmony and stability of the human-land relationship in arid and semi-arid areas.
... Global warming, encompassing both warming and cooling conditions, serves as the primary catalyst for climate change [1,2]. Climate change signifies alterations in longterm weather patterns within specific regions [3]. ...
Afghanistan frequently faces drought and other climate change-related challenges due to rising temperatures and decreased precipitation in many areas of the country. Therefore, acquiring a thorough comprehension of the implications of climate change on the cultivation of key cereal crops is of the utmost importance. This is particularly significant in the context of Afghanistan, where the agricultural sector plays a pivotal role, contributing close to a quarter of the country’s national gross domestic product and serving as the primary source of employment for 70% of the rural workforce. In this paper, we employ a panel regression model to evaluate the relationship between climate change and cereal productivity in Afghanistan’s agro-climatic zones. Temperature had a significant negative impact, implying that a mean temperature increase of 1 °C decreased wheat and barley yields by 271 and 221 kg/ha, respectively. Future medium- and high-emission scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively) for the period 2021–2050 were considered for future yield predictions. To project future climate change impacts, the estimated panel data regression coefficients were used to compute the projected changes in cereal yields. During the period 2021–2050, the mean yield of wheat is projected to decrease by 21 or 28%, the rice yield will decrease by 4.92 or 6.10%, and the barley yield will decrease by 387 or 535 kg/ha in the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios, respectively, further emphasizing the need for targeted actions to tackle the effects of climate change on agriculture in Afghanistan in alignment with SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
... Drylands, areas with a precipitation/potential evapotranspiration ratio below 0.65 (Huang et al., 2016), are essential for sustaining life on our planet, as they cover around 42% of the global land surface, produce 42% of the world's food and host 30% of the world's endangered species (Gaur & Squires, 2017). However, drylands are threatened by climate change and desertification (Burrell et al., 2020), which can induce abrupt changes in their structure and functioning. ...
Models derived from satellite image data are needed to monitor the status of terrestrial ecosystems across large spatial scales. However, a remote sensing‐based approach to quantify soil multifunctionality at the global scale is missing despite significant research efforts on this topic. A major constraint for doing so is the availability of suitable global‐scale field data to calibrate remote sensing indicators (RSI) and, to a lesser extent, the sensitivity of spectral data of available satellite sensors to soil background and atmospheric conditions. Here, we aimed to develop a soil multifunctionality model to monitor global drylands coupling ground data on 14 soil functions of 222 dryland areas from six continents to 18 RSI derived from a time series (2006–2013) Landsat dataset. Among the RSI evaluated, the chlorophyll absorption ratio index was the best predictor of soil multifunctionality in single‐variable‐based models ( r = 0.66, P < 0.01, NMRSE = 0.17). However, a multi‐variable RSI model combining the chlorophyll absorption ratio index, the global environment monitoring index and the canopy‐air temperature difference improved the accuracy of quantifying soil multifunctionality ( r = 0.73, P < 0.01, NMRSE = 0.15). Furthermore, the correlation between RSI and soil variables shows a wide range of accuracy with upper and lower values obtained for AMI ( r = 0.889, NMRSE = 0.05) and BGL ( r = 0.685, NMRSE = 0.18) respectively. Our results provide new insights on assessing soil multifunctionality using RSI that may help to monitor temporal changes in the functioning of global drylands effectively.
... Global water scarcity is combined with natural and socioeconomic factors, while the dominant factor varies from country to country. High water scarcity levels prevail in arid and semi-arid regions (e.g., North Africa, South Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia), with scarce physical water availability due to the low natural environment (Gaur and Squires, 2018;Singh and Chudasama, 2021). Socioeconomic factors, such as population density, water use structure, and efficiency, also Fig. 4. Relationship between net international trade import and net virtual water import of countries/regions whose WSI changed after trade impact (ΔWSI ∕ = 0). ...
Water scarcity, a threat to the sustainable development of human society, is determined mainly by water resource endowment and human water withdrawals. International trade may affect national water withdrawal, indirectly influencing nationwide water scarcity. However, most previous studies could not disentangle the indirect water consumption for local consumption and international trade purposes, failing to assess the sole impact of trade on water scarcity. Here, we developed an improved Falkenmark indicator to separate the effect of trade-related water withdrawal on water scarcity. Results show that international trade alleviates water scarcity for 2.2 billion people in high and upper-middle income countries. However, it aggravates water scarcity for 2.1 billion people in low and lower-middle income countries, of which almost all countries are already facing water scarcity and some even are of severe scarcity. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the primary product and food sectors contribute most significantly to intensifying and alleviating water scarcity, respectively. Hence, much greater attention needs to be paid to low and lower-middle income water-scarce countries since international trade could make these countries drier, which is becoming more important to improve the sustainability of global water resources management with a changing climate.
... Furthermore, systems and institutions have developed over time to govern the sustainable use of water and conservation of catchment areas. These have often extended into the management of land and other natural resources (Gaur & Squires, 2018). They are not always effective and cycles of pastoralist resource-based conflict are common. ...
Water scarcity in Narok county, Kenya may be attributed to demographic pressures, land-use changes, environmental degradation and the effects of climate change. This article combines methodologies from history and political science to investigate how local communities cope with water scarcity. In so doing, we consider how institutions, both indigenous and modern, mitigate conflict over access to and control of water sources. Cases are presented from sites of irrigation and development projects or plans. We find that climate change has little to do with water conflicts in Narok, but that more important factors are privatisation and commoditisation of formerly common-pool resources, and challenges and failures in modern water governance in mediating between Maasai (pastoralist) and non-Maasai (agriculturalist) groups. Indigenous governance institutions still have a place in conflict resolution and environmental protection.
... Drylands, usually defined as areas with an aridity index (i.e. annual precipitation over annual potential evapotranspiration) lower than 0.65 (UNEP, 1992), cover around 45% of the Earth's land surface. They are home to more than 2.5 billion people and more than half of the world's livestock (Gaur and Squires, 2017;Prȃvȃlie, 2016). As a consequence of rising evapotranspiration levels due to climate change, drylands are projected to cover at least half of the Earth's surface by the end of the century (Huang et al., 2016). ...
Remote sensing-based approaches are important for evaluating ecosystem degradation and the efficient planning of ecosystem restoration efforts. However, the large majority of remote sensing-based degradation assessments are trend-based, implying that they can only detect degradation that occurred after medium or high-resolution satellite imagery became available. This makes them less suitable to map long-term degradation in ecosystems that have been under high human pressure since before. The main goal of this study was to develop a robust operational approach to map forest degradation status in heterogeneous landscapes with a long-standing degradation history to inform the planning of restoration interventions. We hereby use the tropical dry forests of Lambayeque, Peru, as a case study. Instead of using a trend-based assessment, we evaluated forest degradation status by comparing current woody cover (WC) and aboveground biomass (AGB) estimates obtained from remote sensing imagery with benchmark values consisting of the 95th percentile WC and AGB values inside environmentally homogenous land capability classes. Using boosted regression tree models and a combination of optical (Sentinel-2) and synthetic aperture radar (Sentinel-1) data of different seasons, we mapped WC and AGB, using training data obtained through very high-resolution imagery and field measurements. Further, we aimed at assessing (i) whether the inclusion of Sentinel-1 data improves mapping accuracy in comparison to using only Sentinel-2 data, and (ii) whether the use of multi-seasonal data improves accuracy in comparison to single-season data. Models combining multi-seasonal Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data resulted in the most accurate WC predictions (mean absolute error (MAE): 16%; MAE normalized by dividing by the inter-quartile range of training data: 26%) and AGB predictions (MAE: 28.6 t/ha; normalized MAE: 65%), but differences in predictive accuracy with single season models or models using only Sentinel-2 data were small. The most accurate models estimated an average WC of 41% and an average AGB of 23.4 t/ha. Average WC and AGB reduction due to degradation was 35% and 36%, respectively, indicating that these forests are highly degraded. The site-specific scaling of WC and AGB allows to efficiently estimate forest degradation status irrespective of the time when this degradation occurred, and to express degradation status against site-specific benchmarks. On the condition that there are still some areas that are sufficiently undegraded to be used as a benchmark, the approach can be used to prioritize forest restoration actions and inform targets for restoration in heterogeneous landscapes suffering the impacts of undocumented long-term degradation.
... The gravity of the situation in drylands of Africa is clearer since it accounts for nearly 400 million people who live and derive their livelihood in these areas (Aleman et al., 2018;Gaur and Squires, 2018). The situations within the dryland areas have been orchestrated by innumerable challenges such as climate variability, frequent droughts, natural resources degradation, declining agricultural productivity and high population increment (Syano et al., 2016). ...
Agroforestry provides a number of ecosystem goods and services. Yet evidence of
agroforestry supporting these perceived benefits in rural areas have increased over the
last three decades. This study determined influence of agroforestry adoption on
ecosystem services and livelihoods for smallholder farmers in Machakos County. The
study was conducted using utilized concurrent transformative design where both the
qualitative and quantitative data were collected at the same time. The study was based
on sample size of 248 households’ selected using stratified, random sampling.
Qualitative data were collected using questionnaires and interviews while soil data
was collected following standard soil sampling techniques and analyzed in the
laboratory for textural characteristics, pH, bulk density and micronutrients. Statistical
data were done using chi-square (χ2), binary logistic Model (BLM), ANOVA, t-test
and bivariate regression. Agroforestry was adopted by 82% of the respondents in the
form of boundary tree planting (73.8%), hedgerow (69.4%), scattered trees in rangeland (51.2%) and alley cropping (37.1%). Age, level of education, household size and non-farm income were significant (P < 0.05). Socio-economic aspects affecting adoption of agroforestry were access to credit, training and inputs were significant (P < 0.05) institutional factors affecting the adoption of agroforestry. Ecosystem services obtained by majority of the households were supporting functions in the form of nutrient recycling and soil formation (81.5%) and regulatory functions in the form of soil erosion, water infiltration and micro-climate regulation (80.8%). Provisioning services was dominated by fuel wood (84%), fruit and nuts (75%), poles (74%) and timber (72%). Total income was higher among adopters of timber, fuel wood, posts/poles and fodder. Adopters also had more money to spend on food, clothing, education, medicine and basic needs. Thus the overall gross revenue was higher among adopters. There were higher net returns above Total Variable Cost (TVC) for the adopters (US 94.7), which resulted in positive net returns above Total Cost (TC) for the adopters (US 23.9) resulting in higher margins above TVC (%) for the agroforestry adopters (28%)
than the non-adopters (12%). The soil physical attributes indicate that the proportion of sand particles was significantly (P < 0.05) higher among non-adopters while the proportion of silt and bulk density in the soil was higher among the adopters. The total
nitrogen (TN), total organic carbon (TOC), Ca, Mg, Mn, Cu, Fe, Zn and C/N ratio were significantly improved (P < 0.05) in soils where agroforestry was being practiced. Overall physical and chemical attributes in the soil improved significantly with increasing age in years of agroforestry adoption. The study recommends adoption of agroforestry to maximize ecosystem benefits. However, more training is required for the farmers to enhance their ability and potential to optimize agroforestry
practices and new innovations.
... Despite the challenges, Turkana pastoralists have used traditional land management practices such as delineation of seasonal grazing areas and periodic movement, which facilitated the resilience of range resources to conserve natural resource bases (Barrow and Mlenge, 2003;Kidake et al., 2016). Nonetheless, these practices have currently collapsed owing to the changing dynamics of land use and socioeconomic factors (Gaur and Squires, 2017). ...
... Sin embargo, las mismas son consideradas áreas de extrema riqueza biológica (Mittermeier et al., 2005), y las lagartijas, en particular, el grupo mejor representado (Thompson et al., 2008). Dado que estos ambientes y su fauna se encuentran constantemente bajo amenazas con el avance de la agricultura, ganadería y las actividades extractivas (Walkup et al., 2017;Gaur & Squires, 2018), el incremento de estudios de conservación y restauración de los mismos es crucial en el futuro próximo (Roll et al., 2017). ...
Resumen. Los aspectos de biodiversidad abordados en los estudios de restauración ecológica se han enfocado hasta el momento principalmente en la vegetación, asumiendo que la fauna volvería después del regreso de la flora. Sin embargo, la fauna podría participar en la restauración de dos formas: a) como "pasajera", en respuesta al nuevo hábitat en desarrollo proporcionado por la recuperación de la vegetación, o b) como "impulsora", determinando activamente trayectorias de la regeneración de las plantas. En este marco, el objetivo de nuestro trabajo fue evaluar en la literatura científica el estado actual de conocimiento sobre la relación de las lagartijas con la restauración ecológica, con especial énfasis en zonas áridas. A partir de una búsqueda bibliográfica con las palabras claves "lizard" y "restoration" detectamos 72 publicaciones que informaron sobre las lagartijas como "pasajeras", y solo tres publicaciones como "impulsoras" de la restauración. Según nuestros resultados, los países con mayor cantidad de estudios que relacionan a las lagartijas con la restauración son Australia, Estados Unidos y Nueva Zelanda. Consideramos que estos trabajos pueden influenciar el avance sobre esta temática en las zonas áridas de Lati-noamérica, en muchas de las cuales estos animales posiblemente exhiban un rol fundamental.
Abstract. The aspects of biodiversity addressed have focused mainly on the vegetation, assuming that the fauna would return after the return of the flora. Fauna could participate in restoration in two ways: as "passengers", responding passively to the developing habitat provided by plant regeneration, or as "drivers", determining the trajectories of plant regeneration. In this framework, the goal of our work was to evaluate in the scientific literature the current state of knowledge about the relationship of lizards with ecological restoration, with special emphasis on arid zones.
... They comprise the main watershed in the Karamoja sub-region, connecting downstream to part of Teso subregion in Uganda's dryland strip, codenamed the "Cattle Corridor". Karamoja sub-region is part of the Karamoja cluster, an area of land that straddles the borders between southwestern Ethiopia, north-western Kenya, southeastern South Sudan and north-eastern Uganda (Gaur and Squires, 2018). ...
The semi-arid Lokere and Lokok catchments in northeastern Uganda are experiencing land use andland cover (LULC) change driven by policies and actions aimed at pastoralist sedentarisation. Whilethese efforts present a trajectory of a landscape dominated by farming, livestock herding or grazingpersists. The objective of this study was to project medium, and long-term LULC for Lokere andLokok catchments in Karamoja, Uganda. We applied automatic multi-perceptron neural network, builton Markov chain modeling method, along with multi-criteria evaluation strategies; all embedded in theIDRISI Land Change Modeler (LCM) to project the catchments’ LULC to the year 2030 and 2050. Themodel was trained using 1994 and 2003 LULC, and validated with 2013 LULC. Results of threemodelled policy scenarios; business as usual (BAU), pro-livestock and pro-farming; to the years 2030and 2050 showed that small scale farming (SSF) would increase in all scenarios, even if policy shifts topromote livestock rearing. Pro-farming policies would, in both 2030 and 2050, result in reduction ofgrassland as SSF increases; doubling the 2003 land area by 2050. The results of this study facilitateassessment of potential impacts of the future LULC and policy evaluation in the catchments.
... The vegetation is a xerophytic shrubland that belongs to the Monte Desert phytogeographic region (Cabrera, 1966). This habitat is the largest dry region of South America with a high evaporation rate enhanced by strong westerly winds, low rainfall and high summer temperatures (Abraham et al., 2009;Busso and Fernández, 2017). Mean annual precipitation is below 200 mm and average annual temperature is around 15°C (Tadey, 2006;Villagra and Roig, 2002), resulting in a strong summer deficit (Leon et al., 1998;Paruelo et al., 1998). ...
Biodiversity conservation focuses on species and/or populations, but preserving genetic diversity and structure has received limited attention and even less maintaining species evolutionary potential over generations. Genetic diversity is an essential component of biodiversity enabling species' persistence, particularly under disturbances. Via sexual reproduction genetic diversity is transmitted across generations and greater outcrossing in parental populations will lead to greater genetic diversity in their offspring. Grazing by exotic large herbivores is one of the main disturbances driving biodiversity loss threatening rangelands sustainability worldwide. We investigated grazing effects on fitness and genetic diversity of parental and offspring cohorts of Prosopis alpataco from Patagon-ian Monte Desert. We collected fresh leaves and seeds from 10 independent rangelands with different herbivore density, forming a grazing gradient, and estimated genetic parameters from allele frequencies using isoenzymes. We recorded plant size, seed weight, seed set, seedling emergence and mortality as proxies of plant fitness. Applying regression models and path analysis (D-separation) approaches we observed that increasing grazing reduced seed set and seedling emergence, and significantly increased seedling mortality. Parental and offspring suffered from inbreeding. Moreover, we found genetic diversity loss throughout cohorts in all rangelands, however, this loss was relatively lower at intermediate grazing intensities. The introduction of large herbivores in unman-aged rangelands affected vegetation structure, jeopardizing their evolutionary potential and system sustainability. Therefore, natural revegetation may be compromised by aggravated genetic diversity losses along generations that might be deepened in drylands under forecasted climate change. This highlights the importance of evaluating and conserving genetic diversity.
... Ref. [47] asks if pastoralism itself is an adaptation to the erraticity and aridity, then what level of climate change is the system unable to tolerate? Therefore, it is vital to identify not only the main driver but also its factors which could lesson adverse impacts of climate variability on LULC changes [48]. For example, from a biophysical perspective, for rainfall variability to have a direct, adverse effect on pastoral livelihood, it is at least expected to adversely affect the size and productivity of rangelands (which could mean an expansion of bare lands and/or non-range land uses). ...
The study set out to understand drivers of Land-Use Land Cover (LULC) changes in dry-land areas and investigate factors helping mitigate the adverse impacts of climate anomalies on LULC changes. By employing a mixed-methods design, it combined LULC data with socioeconomic and climatic data, to analyze the pattern of LULC changes and its socioeconomic and climatic driving forces along with moderating factors. It was found that rangeland decreased by 764 km² (13% of total area) between 1986 and 2015. The results from the Seemingly Unrelated time series regression models confirmed preliminary evidence that climate variability, as well as adaptive land-use policies lacking components of sustainability increase the likelihood of degradation and contraction of rangelands. We also found an indication from the qualitative data that a widening power gap between the customary and statutory governance system reinforces unsustainable land use by obscuring the values of the customary land governance system. However, those policies encompassing economic and natural resource development objectives abate adverse effects of climate variability on land degradation and shrinkage of rangelands. The results suggest that a land governance system with natural resource development objectives fitting to the local context could be an effective policy instrument to lessen the adverse effects of climate anomalies on LULC changes. Although this study focused on analyzing the LULC changes and its drivers in dry-land area, the findings may well have a bearing on the formulation and implementation of effective adaptation and sustainable land-use policies.
Resilience in Indigenous communities and their lands faces challenges from multiple fronts, including climate change, biodiversity loss, altered biogeochemical flows, and socio-cultural transitions. Innovative solutions like Indigenous local knowledge featuring the community repositories that could enable policy practice are needed to explore, shift, and articulate such trajectories towards sustainable and desired futures. The study used a mixed-method approach to gather information on the extent to which Maasai communities practice traditional principles and guidelines for sustainable management of the Alalili systems. Purposive and stratified random sampling techniques facilitated data collection from literature review, direct field observation, key informant interviews, focused group discussions, and household surveys, which were analyzed using Chi-square and t-tests, narrative, and descriptive techniques. The findings indicate a variation between the traditional principles and guidelines reported from the surveyed literature and those recorded from the field survey. We found that the literature sparingly reported six aspects of the traditional principles and guidelines, whereas the field survey from the community comprehensively reported four harmonized aspects. More than 50% of the surveyed Alalili systems are currently not complying with documented management principles and guidelines from the literature and community traditions, thus increasing their proximity to the effects of degradation. We reveal that the probability of compliance is higher in the private Alalili category. We recommend their official recognition by policymakers and putting them into practice as a conservation initiative for supporting future rangeland sustainability and the pastoral communities’ livelihood development.
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the world’s primary food crops, and timely and accurate yield prediction is essential for ensuring food security. There has been a growing use of remote sensing, climate data, and their combination to estimate yields, but the optimal indices and time window for wheat yield prediction in arid regions remain unclear. This study was conducted to (1) assess the performance of widely recognized remote sensing indices to predict wheat yield at different growth stages, (2) evaluate the predictive accuracy of different yield predictive machine learning models, (3) determine the appropriate growth period for wheat yield prediction in arid regions, and (4) evaluate the impact of climate parameters on model accuracy. The vegetation indices, widely recognized due to their proven effectiveness, used in this study include the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), and the Atmospheric Resistance Vegetation Index (ARVI). Moreover, four machine learning models, viz. Decision Trees (DTs), Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting (GB), and Bagging Trees (BTs), were evaluated to assess their predictive accuracy for wheat yield in the arid region. The whole wheat growth period was divided into three time windows: tillering to grain filling (December 15–March), stem elongation to grain filling (January 15–March), and heading to grain filling (February–March 15). The model was evaluated and developed in the Google Earth Engine (GEE), combining climate and remote sensing data. The results showed that the RF model with ARVI could accurately predict wheat yield at the grain filling and the maturity stages in arid regions with an R² > 0.75 and yield error of less than 10%. The grain filling stage was identified as the optimal prediction window for wheat yield in arid regions. While RF with ARVI delivered the best results, GB with EVI showed slightly lower precision but still outperformed other models. It is concluded that combining multisource data and machine learning models is a promising approach for wheat yield prediction in arid regions.
Aridity occurs due to natural factors like droughts, changing weather patterns, and fluctuations in precipitation and temperature, impacting agriculture, wildlife, the economy, and the environment. Monitoring these phenomena is vital for understanding their impact on past, present, and future arid zones. The purpose of this project was to create a web-based geotechnological platform for monitoring arid regions in northwest Mexico (SADEW-AridMonitor). A key component of the methodology involved integrating various computational tools, including web servers, map servers, database servers, programming languages, geographic information system libraries, and web development tools. The web platform handled all geoprocessing tasks and displayed maps of arid regions along with related data. Consequently, the platform generates maps of dry areas in the past, present, and future. Additionally, users have the option to download arid zone maps and associated factors, which can be viewed in any Geographic Information Systems software.
GATA factors are evolutionarily conserved transcription regulators that are implicated in the regulation of physiological changes under abiotic stress. Unfortunately, there are few studies investigating the potential role of GATA genes in potato plants responding to salt and osmotic stresses. The physicochemical properties, chromosomal distribution, gene duplication, evolutionary relationships and classification, conserved motifs, gene structure, interspecific collinearity relationship, and cis-regulatory elements were analyzed. Potato plants were treated with NaCl and PEG to induce salinity and osmotic stress responses. qRT-PCR was carried out to characterize the expression pattern of StGATA family genes in potato plants subjected to salinity and osmotic stress. StGATA12 loss-of-function and gain-of-function plants were established. Morphological phenotypes and growth were indicated. Photosynthetic gas exchange was suggested by the net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance. Physiological indicators and the corresponding genes were indicated by enzyme activity and mRNA expression of genes encoding CAT, SOD, POD, and P5CS, and contents of H2O2, MDA, and proline. The expression patterns of StGATA family genes were altered in response to salinity and osmotic stress. StGATA12 protein is located in the nucleus. StGATA12 is involved in the regulation of potato plant growth in response to salinity and osmotic stress. Overexpression of StGATA12 promoted photosynthesis, transpiration, and stomatal conductance under salinity and osmotic stress. StGATA12 overexpression induced biochemical responses of potato plants to salinity and osmotic stress by regulating the levels of H2O2, MDA, and proline and the activity of CAT, SOD, and POD. StGATA12 overexpression induced the up-regulation of StCAT, StSOD, StPOD, and StP5CS against salinity and osmotic stress. StGATA12 could reinforce the ability of potato plants to resist salinity and osmosis-induced damages, which may provide an effective strategy to engineer potato plants for better adaptability to adverse salinity and osmotic conditions.
Dryland ecosystems cover 40% of our planet’s land surface, support the lives of billions of people, and are responding dramatically to the combined effects of climate and land use change. These expansive and diverse systems also dominate core aspects of Earth’s climate, storing and exchanging vast amounts of water, carbon, and energy with the atmosphere. Despite the indispensable natural resources and ecosystem services provided by drylands and their high vulnerability to change, drylands are one of the most, if not the most, poorly understood ecosystem types. Such lack of study has been in part due to incorrect historical assumptions that drylands are unproductive “wastelands”. This lack of understanding results in notably poor model representation and forecasting capacity, hindering our representation and decision making for these vulnerable ecosystems. The NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program solicited proposals for a multi-year field campaign, of which Adaptation and Response in Drylands (ARID) was one of two scoping studies selected. With the goal of gathering input from the scientific and data end-user communities, we provide an overview of our ARID kick-off meeting with over 300 in-person and virtual participants held in October 2023 at the University of Arizona. This meeting gathered insights from public and private data end-users and scientists. We also report on follow-up activities that have taken place since then, including town halls, community surveys, and international engagements.
Arid regions are susceptible to flash floods and severe drought periods, therefore there is a need for accurate and gap-free rainfall data for the design of flood mitigation measures and water resource management. Nevertheless, arid regions may suffer from a shortage of precipitation gauge data, whether due to improper gauge coverage or gaps in the recorded data. Several alternatives are available to compensate for deficiencies in terrestrial rain gauge records, such as satellite data or utilizing geostatistical interpolation. However, adequate assessment of these alternatives is mandatory to avoid the dramatic effect of using improper data in the design of flood protection works and water resource management. The current study covers 75% of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s area and spans the period from 1967 to 2014. Seven satellite precipitation datasets with daily, 3-h, and 30-min temporal resolutions, along with 43 geostatistical interpolation techniques, are evaluated as supplementary data to address the gaps in terrestrial gauge records. The Normalized Root Mean Square Error by the mean value of observation (NRMSE) is selected as a ranking criterion for the evaluated datasets. The geostatistical techniques outperformed the satellite datasets with 0.69 and 0.8 NRMSE for the maximum and total annual records, respectively. The best performance was found in the areas with the highest gauge density. PERSIANN-CDR and GPM IMERG V7 satellite datasets performed better than other satellite datasets, with 0.8 and 0.82 NRMSE for the maximum and total annual records, respectively. The spatial distributions of maximum and total annual precipitation for every year from 1967 to 2014 are generated using geostatistical techniques. Eight Probability Density Functions (PDFs) belonging to the Gamma, Normal, and Extreme Value families are assessed to fit the gap-filled datasets. The PDFs are ranked according to the Chi-square test results and Akaike information criterion (AIC). The Gamma, Extreme Value, and Normal distribution families had the best fitting over 56%, 34%, and 10% of the study area gridded data, respectively. Finally, the selected PDF at each grid point is utilized to generate the maximum annual precipitation for 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100-year rasters that can be used directly as a gridded precipitation input for hydrological studies.
Heat stress in ruminants can have a profound effect on their bodies. Every part of the body is affected in some way, and it's an entirely caused systemic disorder. The characteristics of the animal, the environment, and the way the animal is managed all have an effect on the type and magnitude of the reaction. The development of effective measures to address heat stress (HS) has proven challenging due to the complex nature of the stress and the diverse array of ruminant production systems. The present matter has acquired significant urgency due to the ongoing expansion of the global economy and the concurrent rise in global temperatures. The objective of this study was to examine the physiological mechanisms employed by ruminant animals inhabiting arid and semi-arid regions in order to mitigate the effects of HS. The responses provided can be categorized into three distinct groups: the reduction of feed intake to decrease the production of metabolic heat, the enhancement of heat-loss capacity, and the activation of hormones, enzymes, and genes associated with heat tolerance. In light of HS, ruminant animals exhibit a decrease in their level of physical activity, feed consumption, and rumination, while concurrently increasing their water consumption, evap-orative loss through sweating, respiration, panting, and rectal temperature (RT), in the specified sequence. The increased dissi-pation of heat caused by perspiration in ruminants would have made it unnecessary to have an elevated respiration rate. In order to meet the demands of perspiration and minimize the risk of respiratory alkalosis resulting from alveolar ventilation in the lungs, it is crucial to optimize the utilization of water and minerals in ruminant animals. Hormonal levels in the bloodstream are diminished due to HS, specifically affecting anabolic hormones like growth hormone, cortisol, triiodothyronine, and thy-roxine. Ruminants exhibit discernible inclinations towards specific types of shade structures, contingent upon the characteristics of their immediate surroundings. Therefore, it is crucial to take these preferences into account when making well-informed decisions regarding heat mitigation strategies in agricultural environments. In conclusion, HS has a negative impact on ruminant physiology that reflects on productivity and welfare. With a better understanding of how HS affects livestock, researchers can come up with ways to manage it and show the need for more research on the topic of HS in livestock.
The assessment of ecosystem quality and the maintenance of optimal ecosystem function require understanding vegetation area dynamics and their relationship with climate variables. This study aims to detect vegetation area changes downstream of the Hali dam, which was built in 2009, and to understand the influence of the dam as well as climatic variables on the region’s vegetation areas from 2000 to 2020. The case study is located in an arid area with an average rainfall amount from 50 to 100 mm/year. An analysis of seasonal changes in vegetation areas was conducted using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and supervised image classification was used to evaluate changes in vegetation areas using Landsat imagery. Pearson correlation and multivariate linear regression were used to assess the response of local vegetation areas to both hydrologic changes due to dam construction and climate variability. The NDVI analysis revealed a considerable vegetation decline after the dam construction in the dry season. This is primarily associated with the impoundment of seasonal water by the dam and the increase in cropland areas due to dam irrigation. A significantly stronger correlation between vegetation changes and precipitation and temperature variations was observed before the dam construction. Furthermore, multivariant linear regression was used to evaluate the variations in equivalent water thickness (EWT), climate data, and NDVI before and after the dam construction. The results suggested that 85 percent of the variability in the mean NDVI was driven by climate variables and EWT before the dam construction. On the other hand, it was found that only 42 percent of the variations in the NDVI were driven by climate variables and EWT from 2010 to 2020 for both dry and wet seasons.
Providing an accurate spatiotemporal distribution of rainfall and filling data gaps are pivotal for effective water resource management. This study focuses on the Asir region in the southwest of Saudi Arabia. Given the limited accuracy of satellite data in this arid/mountain-dominated study area, geospatial interpolation has emerged as a viable alternative approach for filling terrestrial records data gaps. Furthermore, the irregularity in rain gauge data and the yearly spatial variation in data gaps hinder the creation of a coherent distribution pattern. To address this, the Centered Root Mean Square Error (CRMSE) is employed as a criterion to select the most appropriate geospatial interpolation technique among 51 evaluated methods for maximum and total yearly precipitation data. This study produced gap-free maps of total and maximum yearly precipitation from 1966 to 2013. Beyond 2013, it is recommended to utilize ordinary Kriging with a J-Bessel semivariogram and simple Kriging with a K-Bessel semivariogram to estimate the spatial distribution of maximum and total yearly rainfall depth, respectively. Additionally, a proposed methodology for allocating additional rain gauges to improve the accuracy of rainfall spatial distribution is introduced based on a cross-validation error (CVE) assessment. Newly proposed gauges in the study area resulted in a significant 21% CVE reduction.
Indigenous knowledge refers to the understandings, skills and philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction
with their natural surroundings (UNESCO, 2018; IPCC, 2019a). Local knowledge refers to the understandings and skills developed by
individuals and populations, specific to the places where they live (UNESCO, 2018; IPCC, 2019a). Indigenous knowledge and local
knowledge are inherently valuable but have only recently begun to be appreciated and in western scientific assessment processes in their
own right (Ford et al., 2016). In the past these often endangered ways of knowing have been suppressed or attacked (Mustonen, 2014).
Yet these knowledge systems represent a range of cultural practices, wisdom, traditions and ways of knowing the world that provide
accurate and useful climate change information, observations and solutions (very high confidence) (Table Cross-Chapter Box INDIG.1).
Rooted in their own contextual and relative embedded locations, some of these knowledges represent unbroken engagement with the
earth, nature and weather for many tens of thousands of years, with an understanding of the ecosystem and climatic changes over
longer-term timescales that is held both as knowledge by Indigenous Peoples and local peoples, as well as in the archaeological record
(Barnhardt and Angayuqaq, 2005; UNESCO, 2018).
This Cross-Chapter Box highlights the intersecting issues of gender, climate change adaptation, climate justice and transformative
pathways. A gender perspective does not centre only on women or men but examines structures, processes and relationships of power
between and among groups of men and women and how gender, particularly in its non-binary form, intersects with other social
categories such as race, class, socioeconomic status, nationality or education to create multi-dimensional inequalities
The animal feed nutritional value is dependent on the feed chemical composition and which could be affected by sulfur fertilization and irrigation regimes. Therefore, the present study was formulated to evaluate the effect of sulfur fertilization and irrigation regimes on fodder sorghum in semi-arid region. A two-year field experiment (2016/2017) was conducted on multi-cut hybrid sorghum with three moisture regimes (60 and 120 Cumulative Pan Evaporation (CPE), and no irrigation) and three sulfur (S) levels (0, 15 and 30 kg/ha S) as sub-plot treatment in split-plot design replicated thrice. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that individually irrigation scheduling at 60 CPE and sulfur application at 30 kg/ha resulted maximum plant height, leaf area index and number of tillers. The application of 30 kg/ha S observed with higher total green fodder yield which was 20.1% in 2016 and 16.8% more than control in 2017 and nearly, similar results were also obtained in relation to dry matter yield. Sulfur fertilization and irrigation at 60 CPE showed 39.5% mean reduction in hydrocyanic acid and the average crude protein of 10.5% and in vitro dry matter digestibility of 55.5% at 1st cut was recorded. Application of S and irrigation regimes improved the nitrogen and sulfur concentration in fodder. In conclusion, the application of sulfur @ 30 kg/ha through any sulfur source could be considered as the potential sulfur fertilizer in improving the injurious effects of water deficit condition of hybrid multi-cut fodder sorghum through alterations in nutrient uptake, yield and quality.
Agricultural insurance is a significant driver of agricultural development worldwide. In this paper, a fixed‐effects panel approach and instrumental variable regressions are used to examine the impact of agricultural insurance on agricultural output in China. The study is based on panel data from 31 Chinese provinces over the period 2004 to 2018. Findings indicate that agricultural insurance led to a significant increase in aggregate agricultural output across provinces. The results remain robust when potential endogeneity in insurance uptake is considered. In addition, mechanism tests were performed to identify the channels through which insurance influences productivity. These show that agricultural insurance contributes to increasing labor productivity and the area of cultivated land per capita and encourages specialized planting, all of which promote growth in agricultural production. Finally, agricultural insurance plays a more important role in Eastern China and nonmajor crop‐producing areas [EconLit Citations: Q13, Q18].
Inland river runoff variations in arid regions play a decisive role in maintaining regional ecological stability. Observation data of inland river runoff in arid regions have short time series and imperfect attributes due to limitations in the terrain environment and other factors. These shortages not only restrict the accurate simulation of inland river runoff in arid regions significantly, but also influence scientific evaluation and management of the water resources of a basin in arid regions. In recent years, research and applications of machine learning and in-depth learning technologies in the hydrological field have been developing gradually around the world. However, the simulation accuracy is low, and it often has over-fitting phenomenon in previous studies due to influences of complicated characteristics such as “unsteady runoff”. Fortunately, the circulation layer of Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) can explore time series information of runoffs deeply to avoid long-term dependence problems. In this study, the LSTM algorithm was introduced and improved based on the in-depth learning theory of artificial intelligence and relevant meteorological factors that were monitored by coupling runoffs. The runoff data of the Yarkant River was chosen for training and test of the LSTM model. The results demonstrated that Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Square error (RMSE) of the LSTM model were 3.633 and 7.337, respectively. This indicates that the prediction effect and accuracy of the LSTM model were significantly better than those of the convolution neural network (CNN), Decision Tree Regressor (DTR) and Random Forest (RF). Comparison of accuracy of different models made the research reliable. Hence, time series data was converted into a problem of supervised learning through LSTM in the present study. The improved LSTM model solved prediction difficulties in runoff data to some extent and it applied to hydrological simulation in arid regions under several climate scenarios. It not only decreased runoff prediction uncertainty brought by heterogeneity of climate models and increased inland river runoff prediction accuracy in arid regions, but also provided references to basin water resource management in arid regions. In particular, the LSTM model provides an effective solution to runoff simulation in regions with limited data.
Climate change has resulted in profound changes in biodiversity throughout the globe. It has also become a serious source of worry for environmentalists and governments alike. The goal of this study is to provide first-hand information about the effects of climate change on floristic composition in the Khulais region, Saudi Arabia, during the last decade. Data obtained from the metrological station showed that the amount of annual precipitation decreased, while the mean annual temperature exhibited an increase. The results showed that Lange, De Martonne and Emberger's drought indices, ranged between (3x10-5 to 2.8), (3x 10-5 to 2.0), and (2x 10-4 to 14.8), respectively, which decreased in 2020 by between 50% and 230% from 2011. Most plant species in the studied region showed a decrease in their frequency. 50 out of 251 species showed a frequency change of more than ten percent, which was recorded in the first survey. Species that showed the largest declines were mostly a variety of agricultural weeds and valley plants, while species of rocky and mountain habitats were less affected. Only seven species showed a relative increase in their frequency, Prosopis Juliflora and Trianthema portulacastrum L. recording the highest change in their frequency. This work serves as a warning to those interested in wild plants and to governments to take appropriate measures to protect the arid environment threatened by the impact of climate change.
Food security, drought, environmental protection and industrial development have necessitated more efficient management of water resources. Population growth and unsustainable agricultural development in different parts of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, has led to a more realistic approach and the use of a comprehensive and efficient water footprint (WF) index (separately for green water, blue water and gray water) in determining the amount of water consumed by agricultural products. On the other hand, any climate change will cause a change in rainfall patterns and consequently change the share of blue and green water used in agricultural products. Therefore, the importance of cereal WF in arid and semi-arid regions has been discussed. Estimating the ecological WF and virtual water trade in various products in arid and semi-arid regions such as Iran can help better manage the limited water resources. Finally, the importance of accurate water measurement is highlighted to reliably estimate the water footprint.KeywordsWater footprintCerealWater resourcesClimate changeIrrigated landRainfed land
Drylands, particularly in the developing countries are highly affected by climate change. Major devastating changes are expected to happen in dryland areas, ecosystem structures, productivity and socio-economic characteristics of inhabitants. This study aimed at investigating drylands’ socio-economic and biophysical characteristics and assesses its vulnerability to changes in temperature and rainfall. The Northern Jordan Valley region, Palestine was selected as a pilot study area. Direct meetings and a questionnaire were used to collect socio-economic and agricultural data over the period February–July 2019. Soil samples were collected from representative fields in the study area to test the major soil chemical properties. A large climatic dataset (1970–2019) was analyzed to investigate changes in rainfall and temperature. Results show that the average households’ monthly income in the study area was in the range US $440–900. A significant portion of households’ monthly income was spent on water for domestic and agricultural purposes. Water harvesting was a predominant activity due to water scarcity in the study area. The chemical analysis of the soil samples revealed that the salinity in the irrigated area was more likely a result of the farmers’ agricultural practices. Analysis of climatic data of the Northern Jordan Valley revealed a reduction in annual rainfall by 4.5 mm/decade during the period 1970–2019. In addition, the average monthly values of maximum and minimum temperatures of the same period have exceeded the long-term monthly average of maximum and minimum temperatures in the study area. These changes in rainfall and temperature has exaggerated water scarcity in the study area and provided strong evidence on climate change in the region. The high vulnerability of Northern Jordan Valley region to climate change has strongly impacted the livelihoods’ of its inhabitants and forced many people to immigrate.
Riparian corridors are critical refuges for biodiversity in arid regions like the southwestern US. Birds in particular rely on these habitats for breeding and as migratory stopover sites within a resource-scarce landscape. Climate change is likely to affect the distribution of resources across such landscapes and how birds use riparian zones. In this study, we used 15 years of bird-banding data (1994-2008) from eight riparian sites across the state of Utah to examine the effects of variation in climate and vegetation on birds at the community and population level. We used generalized linear mixed models to analyze the effects of temperature, precipitation, El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) on daily total captures, species richness and community composition. We found that total captures and species richness increased in hotter, drier, less green years and in El Niño years, and the relationships were more pronounced for non-riparian species than for species breeding in riparian zones. We also found changes in community composition in relation to temperature and precipitation. At the population level, we used capture-mark-recapture (CMR) models to analyze the effects of these covariates on the rates of population growth, recruitment and apparent survival. We found that population growth rates were negatively associated with temperature and ENSO for roughly half of the focal species. This pattern was almost entirely due to lower recruitment, likely caused by the combination of fewer resources and increased competition from the influx of non-riparian birds into riparian oases. Our results have important implications for arid areas which are expected to become hotter and drier. Reducing other anthropogenic threats to riparian corridors, such as cattle grazing and water management, is likely to increase the resilience to climate change of riparian habitats and their avian residents.
Crop production is a major source of food and livelihood for many people in arid and semi-arid (ASA) regions across the world. However, due to irregular climatic events, ASA regions are affected commonly by frequent droughts that can impact food production. In addition, ASA regions in the Middle East and Africa are often characterised by political instability, which can increase population vulnerability to hunger and ill health. Remote sensing (RS) provides a platform to improve the spatial prediction of crop production and food availability, with the potential to positively impact populations. This paper, firstly, describes some of the important characteristics of agriculture in ASA regions that require monitoring to improve their management. Secondly, it demonstrates how freely available RS data can support decision-making through a cost-effective monitoring system that complements traditional approaches for collecting agricultural data. Thirdly, it illustrates the challenges of employing freely available RS data for mapping and monitoring crop area, crop status and forecasting crop yield in these regions. Finally, existing approaches used in these applications are evaluated, and the challenges associated with their use and possible future improvements are discussed. We demonstrate that agricultural activities can be monitored effectively and both crop area and crop yield can be predicted in advance using RS data. We also discuss the future challenges associated with maintaining food security in ASA regions and explore some recent advances in RS that can be used to monitor cropland and forecast crop production and yield.
To feed around 9.8 billion people by 2050, it is equally important to increase food production while maintaining the sustainability of the environment. Conservation agriculture (CA) is one of the approaches to manage agro-ecosystems in order to improve productivity, increase the profitability and food security and enhance the resource base and environment. Although many researchers have pointed out the prospects and concerns of adopting CA in different climatic conditions, CA in arid regions raises uncertainties due to its extreme climates, most of the soils with low water holding capacity, high potential evapotranspiration, low and non-uniform distribution of rainfall and greater wind erosion. However, CA practices could benefit the arid agriculture through moderation/reducing of evaporation, regulating water and nutrient in soil and reducing wind erosion. Arid soils, largely characterised by low soil organic carbon (SOC), have the greater potential for higher C sequestration with the use of CA practices. Among the key components of CA, no-tillage (NT) coupled with mulching might be effective in distribution of the soil moisture at proper stage of the crop growth. The emission of CO2 flux from soil and soil salinity are reduced with the adoption of CA in arid soils with the use of cover crops. Due to better aeration and nutrient movement in CA land, beneficial bacterial community and diversity are promoted. However, for CA to work effectively in arid regions, the three components of CA such as minimum disturbances of soil through no- and reduced-tillage, permanent soil cover and crop rotation must be critically followed together or simultaneously for improving soil health, crop productivity through high nutrient and water efficiency, carbon sequestration, mitigation of climate change and sustainability.
Conservation of globally endangered plant resources is a critical ecological, cultural, and economic issue. Considerable growing attention has been given in the recent years to ecological and economical in situ conservation for sustainable use of wild rare plants. In order to develop an efficient and effective conservation strategy using complementary in situ and ex situ techniques, we must have a clear understanding of geographical distribution of target species, its habitat preferences and requirements, its population characteristics, threats, and taxonomy. The details of the localities where past collection have been made, the so-called passport data, associated with herbarium and germplasm collections are a key source of information to guide future conservation activities. Good nature-conservation management requires a basic understanding of ecological science at all levels, especially focusing on the landscape ecological aspects. It can be difficult to determine which areas to restore, what species and/or vegetation communities to target in restoration programs, and what threatening processes need to be mitigated. Focusing on the community level can help fill the gap between species and ecosystem approaches to plant conservation. Plant communities are in fact, basic components of the landscape, and their extent and arrangement have consequences both to species survival and ecosystem processes. Decision making is an element, inherent in all stages and areas of conservation, which is directly related to the cost-efficiency of the process. The decision to be made varies; sometimes, it is a question of whether or not a species should be moved to the endangered list; in other cases, it may be how to best allocate resources; or it can be deciding whether or not a remedial action is necessary after landscape degradation.
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 challenge. In this chapter we address some of the underlying issues, including the influence of changing dietary patterns on food security. We point the way to a better future for agriculture industries and the people who depend on them for their livelihoods in this era of global (not only climate) change.
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