Natural and Human Dimensions of Land Degradation in Drylands: Causes and Consequences

  • Chapter
Terrestrial Ecosystems in a Changing World

Part of the book series: Global Change — The IGBP Series ((GLOBALCHANGE))

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
EUR 29.95
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
EUR 117.69
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
EUR 160.49
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free ship** worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
EUR 160.49
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free ship** worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Arkutu A (1995) Family planning in Sub-Saharan Africa: Present status and future strategies. Int J Gyn Obst 50: S27–S34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asner GP, Heidebrecht KB (2003) Imaging spectroscopy for desertification studies: Comparing AVIRIS and EO-1 Hyperion in Argentina drylands. IEEE Trans Geosci Rem Sens 41:1283–1296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asner GP, Heidebrecht KB (2005) Desertification alters regional ecosystem-climate interactions. Global Change Biol 11:182–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asner GP, Borghi CE, Ojeda RA (2003) Desertification in central Argentina: Changes in ecosystem carbon and nitrogen from imaging spectroscopy. Ecol Appl 13:629–648

    Google Scholar 

  • Asner GP, Elmore AJ, Olander LP, Martin RE, Harrias T (2004) Grazing systems, ecosystem responses, and global change. Annu Rev Environ Resour 29:261–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bastin G, Ludwig JA, Eager RW, Chewings VH, Liedloff AC (2002) Indicators of landscape function: comparing patchiness metrics using remotely-sensed data from rangelands. Ecol Indic 1:243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batterbury SPJ, Behnke RH, Döll PM, Ellis JE, Harou PA, Lynam TJP, Mtimet A, Nicholson SE, Obando JA, Thornes JB (2002) Responding to desertification at the national scale: detection, explanation, and responses. In: Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith M (eds) Global Desertification: Do Humans Cause Deserts? Dahlem University Press, Berlin, pp 357–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Belnap J, Eldridge DJ (2001) Disturbance and recovery of biological soil crusts. In: Belnap J, Lange OL (eds) Biological Soil Crusts: Structure, Function, and Management Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 363–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Bestelmeyer BT (2005) Does desertification diminish biodiversity? Enhancement of ant diversity by shrub invasion in south-western USA. Divers Distrib 11:45–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bollig M, Schulte A (1999) Environmental change and pastoral perceptions: Degradation and indigenous knowledge in two African pastoral communities. Human Ecol 27:493–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chasek P, Corell E (2002) Addressing desertification at the international level: the institutional system. In: Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith M (eds) Do Humans Create Deserts? The Ecological, Meteorological, and Human Dimensions of Global Desertification. Dahlem University Press, Berlin, pp 275–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Corell E (1999) The Negotiable Desert: Expert Knowledge in the Negotiations of the Convention to Combat Desertification. Linkö** Studies in Arts and Science No. 191. Linkö** University, Linkö**, Sweden

    Google Scholar 

  • Darkoh MBK (1998) The nature, causes and consequences of desertification in the drylands of Africa. Land Degrad Develop 9:1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dregne HE (1996) Desertification: challenges ahead. Ann Arid Zone 35:305–311

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández RJ, Archer ERM, Ash AJ, Dowlatabadi H, Hiernaux PHY, Reynolds JF, Vogel CH, Walker BH, Wiegand T (2002) Degradation and recovery in socio-ecological systems: a view from the household/farm level. In: Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith M (eds) Do Humans Create Deserts? The Ecological, Meteorological, and Human Dimensions of Global Desertification. Dahlem University Press, Berlin, pp 297–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson E, Havstad KM, Estell R, Hyder P (1998) Perspectives on desertification: South-western United States. J Arid Environ 39:191–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallart F, Llorens P, Latron J (1994) Studying the role of old agricultural terraces on runoff generation in a small Mediterranean mountainous basin. J Hydrol 159:291–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao J, Zha Y, Ni S (2001) Assessment of the effectiveness of desertification rehabilitation measures in Yulin, north-western China using remote sensing. Int J Rem Sens 22:3783–3795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geist HJ, Lambin EF (2004) Dynamic causal patterns of desertification. Bioscience 54:817–829

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez P (2001) Desertification and a shift of forest species in the West African Sahel. Clim Res 17:217–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Grainger A, Stafford Smith M, Squires V, Glenn E (2000) Desertification and climate change: the case for greater convergence. Mitig Adapt Strat Global Change 5:361–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harou PA (2002) What is the role of markets in altering the sensitivity of arid land systems to perturbation? In: Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith DM (eds) Global Desertification: Do Humans Cause Deserts? Dahlem University Press, Berlin, pp 253–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Huenneke LF, Anderson JP, Remmenga M, Schlesinger WH (2002) Desertification alters patterns of aboveground net primary production in Chihuahuan ecosystems. Global Change Biol 8:247–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imeson AC, Prinsen HAM (2004) Vegetation patterns as biological indicators for identifying runoff and sediment source and sink areas for semi-arid landscapes in Spain. Agric Ecosyst Environ 104:333–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson RB, Banner JL, Jobbagy EG, Pockman WT, Wall DH (2002) Ecosystem carbon loss with woody plant invasion of grasslands. Nature 418:623–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kassas M (1995) Desertification: a general review. J Arid Environ 30:115–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelley DW, Nater EA (2000) Historical sediment flux from three watersheds into Lake Pepin, Minnesota, USA. J Environ Qual 29:561–568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krogh SN, Zeisset MS, Jackson E, Whitford WG (2002) Presence/absence of a keystone species as an indicator of rangeland health. J Arid Environ 50:513–519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambin EF, Chasek PS, Dowing TE, Kerven C, Kleidon A, Leemans R, Lüdeke M, Prince SD, Xue Y (2002) The interplay between international and local processes affecting desertification. In: Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith M (eds) Do Humans Create Deserts? The Ecological, Meteorological, and Human Dimensions of Global Desertification. Dahlem University Press, Berlin, pp 387–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Latchininsky A, Gapparov FA (1996) Consequences of the Aral sea’s drying up on the regional locust situation. Secheresse 7:109–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavee H, Imeson AC, Sarah P (1998) The impact of climate change on geomorphology and desertification along a mediterraneanarid transect. Land Degrad Develop 9:407–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Houérou HN (1996) Climate change, drought and desertification. J Arid Environ 34:133–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leach M, Mearns R (eds) (1996) The Lie of the Land: Challenging Received Wisdom on the African Environment. Heinemann Press, Portsmouth, N.H

    Google Scholar 

  • Maestre FT, Cortina J (2004) Are Pinus halepensis plantations useful as a restoration tool in semiarid Mediterranean areas? For Ecol Manage 198:303–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maestre FT, Bautista S, Cortina J, Bellot J (2001) Potential for using facilitation by grasses to establish shrubs on a semiarid degraded steppe. Ecol Appl 11:1641–1655

    Google Scholar 

  • Maestre FT, Cortina J, Bautista S, Bellot J, Vallejo R (2003) Smallscale environmental heterogeneity and spatiotemporal dynamics of seedling establishment in a semiarid degraded ecosystem. Ecosystems 6:630–643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Middleton NJ, Thomas DSG (eds) (1997) World Atlas of Desertification. U.N. Environment Programmem, Edward Arnold, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Odera J (1996) L’état de dégradation actuel des écosystèmes fragiles dans les zones sèches et le rôle de la foresterie dans la restauration, Note de secrétariat no 1. Réunion Internationale d’experts sur la restauration des ecosystèmes forestiers dégradés. Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture, UNP/UNSO, IPF, CCD & RIOD, Lisbon

    Google Scholar 

  • Pamo ET (1998) Herders and wildgame behaviour as a strategy against desertification in northern Cameroon. J Arid Environ 39:179–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pausas JG, Bladé C, Valdecantos A, Seva J, Fuentes D, Alloza J, Vilagrosa A, Bautista S, Cortina J, Vallejo R (2004) Pines and oaks in the restoration of Mediterranean landscapes of Spain: New perspectives for an old practice. Plant Ecol 171:209–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pidgeon AM, Mathews NE, Benoit R, Nordheim EV (2001) Response of avian communities to historic habitat change in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. Cons Biol 15:1772–1788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prince SD (2002) Spatial and temporal scales for detection of desertification. In: Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith M (eds) Global Desertification: Do Humans Cause Deserts? Dahlem University Press, Berlin, pp 23–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Prince SD, de Colstoun EB, Kravitz LL (1998) Evidence from rainuse efficiencies does not indicate extensive Sahelian desertification. Global Change Biol 4:359–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyke DA, Herrick JE, Shaver PL, Pellant M (2002) Rangeland health attributes and indicators for qualitative assessment. J Range Manage 55:584–597

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds JF (2001) Desertification. In: Levin S (ed) Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Volume 2. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, pp 61–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith M (2002a) Do humans cause deserts? In: Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith M (eds) Global Desertification: Do Humans Cause Deserts? Dahlem University Press, Berlin, pp 1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith M (eds) (2002b) Global Desertification: Do Humans Cause Deserts? Dahlem University Press, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith DM, Lambin EF (2003) ARIDnet: Seeking novel approaches to desertification and land degradation. IGBP Global Change Newsletter 54, 5–9 (PDF available at: http://www.igbp.kva.se)

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson DM (1998) Ecology and biogeography of Pinus. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeld D, Rudich Y, Lahav R (2001) Desert dust suppressing precipitation: A possible desertification feedback loop. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:5975–5980

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez Martínez JD, Gallego Simón VJ (1993) La Política de repoblación forestal en España, siglos XIX y XX: Planteamientos, Actuaciones y resultados, estado de la cuestión y recopilación bibliográfica. MAPA. Secretaria General Técnica. Serie Recopilaciones Bibliográficas no 10, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH, Reynolds JF, Cunningham GL, Huenneke LF, Jarrell WM, Virginia R, Whitford WG (1990) Biological feedbacks in global desertification. Science 247:1043–1048

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH, Abrahams AD, Parsons AJ, Wainwright J (1999) Nutrient losses in runoff from grassland and shrubland habitats in Southern New Mexico: I. rainfall simulation experiments. Biogeochemistry 45:21–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma KD (1998) The hydrological indicators of desertification. J Arid Environ 39:121–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sørbø GM (2003) Pastoral ecosystems and the issue of scale. Ambio 32:113–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Stafford Smith DM, Pickup G (1993) Out of Africa, looking in: understanding vegetation change. In: Behnke RH Jr., Scoones I, Kerven C (eds) Range Ecology at Disequilibrium: New Models of Natural Variability and Pastoral Adaptation in African Savannas. Overseas Development Institute and International Institute for Environment and Development, London, pp 196–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Stafford Smith DM, Reynolds JF (2002) The Dahlem Desertification Paradigm: A new approach to an old problem. In: Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith M (eds) Global Desertification: Do Humans Cause Deserts? Dahlem University Press, Berlin, pp 403–424

    Google Scholar 

  • Stocking M, Murnaghan N (2001) Handbook for the Field Assessment of Land Degradation. Earthscan, London; Sterling, VA

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas DSG (1997) Science and the desertification debate. J Arid Environ 37:599–608

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas DSG, Middleton N (1994) Desertification: Exploding the Myth. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Tongway DJ, Hindley N (1995) Assessment of soil condition of tropical grasslands. CSIRO Ecology and Wildlife, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Tongway DJ, Ludwig JA (1996) Rehabilitation of semiarid landscapes in Australia. I. Restoring productive soil patches. Restor Ecol 4:388–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toulmin C (2001) Lessons from the theatre: Should this be the final curtain call for the Convention to Combat Desertification? WSSD Opinion Series. International Institute for Environment and Development. Available from: www.iied.org

    Google Scholar 

  • UNCCD (1994) United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee For a Convention to Combat Desertification, Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa. U.N. Doc. A/AC.241/27, 33 I.L.M. 1328. United Nations, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • UNCCD (2000) Fact Sheet 2: The Causes of Desertification. United Nations Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification. Available from: http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/factsheets/showFS.php?number=2 [Geo-2-171]

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (1994) Earth Summit. Convention on Desertification. United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3–14 June 1992. In. United Nations, New York, p 44

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Mooney HA, Lubchenco J, Melillo JM (1997) Human domination of Earth’s ecosystems. Science 277:494–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogel CH, Smith J (2002) Building social resilience in arid ecosystems. In: Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith DM (eds) Global Desertification: Do Humans Cause Deserts? Dahlem University Press, Berlin, pp 149–166

    Google Scholar 

  • von Hardenberg J, Meron E, Shachak M, Zarmi Y (2001) Diversity of vegetation patterns and desertification. Phys Rev Let 87: 198101-1–198101-4

    Google Scholar 

  • Whisenant SG (1999) Repairing Damaged Wildlands. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • White RP, Nackoney J (2003) Drylands, people, and ecosystem goods and services: A web-based geospatial analysis. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • White R, Tunstall D, Henninger N (2003) An Ecosystem Approach to Drylands: Building Support for New Development Policies. World Resources Institute, EarthTrends Publication Series. Available online: http://earthtrends.wri.org/features/view_feature.cfm?fid=37þeme=39

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitford WG (1993) Animal feedbacks in desertification: An overview. Rev Chil Hist Nat 66:243–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitford WG (1997) Desertification and animal biodiversity in the desert grasslands of north America. J Arid Environ 37:709–720

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zaman S (1997) Effects of rainfall and grazing on vegetation yield and cover of two arid rangelands in Kuwait. Environ Cons 24: 344–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao WZ, **ao HL, Liu ZM, Li J (2005) Soil degradation and restoration as affected by land use change in the semiarid Bashang area, northern China. Catena 59:173–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Reynolds, J.F., Maestre, F.T., Kemp, P.R., Stafford-Smith, D.M., Lambin, E. (2007). Natural and Human Dimensions of Land Degradation in Drylands: Causes and Consequences. In: Canadell, J.G., Pataki, D.E., Pitelka, L.F. (eds) Terrestrial Ecosystems in a Changing World. Global Change — The IGBP Series. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-32730-1_20

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Navigation