Showing papers in "Journal of Arid Environments in 2005"

TL;DR: In this article, a 23-year time series of Remotely sensed measurements from NOAA-AVHRR expressed as normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) have been used for long-term studies of Sahel region.

TL;DR: The authors investigates the nature of a secular vegetation trend across the Sahel and discusses several potential causative factors, including increasing rainfall over the last few years, land use change and migration.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed the predictions and management implications of two current paradigms in the ecology and management of arid and semi-arid rangelands, and suggested that management needs to take into account temporal variability and spatial heterogeneity.

TL;DR: In this paper, rainfall time series for West Africa are updated to the year 2003 by using rainfall estimates from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) for eight zones, in the latitudes from 12°N to 20°N.

TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of the NOAA AVHRR temporal series since the 1980s showed a decrease in aridity from 1991-2000 compared to 1982-1990, which might have a strong potential impact on the region's natural ecosystems, agricultural crops, and human health.

TL;DR: In this article, seven statistical procedures including simple correlation, path analysis, multiple linear regression, stepwise regression, factor analysis, principal components and cluster analysis were used to study the relationship between wheat grain yield and its components under drought conditions of Saudi Arabia Results revealed that number of spikes/m2, 100grain weight, weight of grains/spike and biological yield were the most effective variables influencing grain yield.

TL;DR: In the Chihuahuan desert, Mesquite ( Prosopis glandulosa) and creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) were the primary dominant shrubs on 27% and 37% of the area, respectively as mentioned in this paper.

TL;DR: In this article, the state-of-the-art desertification assessments on both the national and local levels are presented along with suggestions for possible solutions to these problems and two major problems facing the assessment of degradation, the uncertainty of baseline assessments and indictor systems and the misuse of remotely sensed data sources.

TL;DR: A review of the research literature shows that saltcedar has greater salt tolerance, drought tolerance, resistance to water stress, and fire tolerance than mesic native trees as mentioned in this paper, and is now the dominant woody species on many perennial rivers systems in the arid southwestern U.S. and northwest Mexico.

TL;DR: Overall results from this study indicate strongly that establishment of enclosures is very advantageous over other methods since it is a fast, cheap and lenient method for the rehabilitation of degraded lands.

TL;DR: Based on a hydrogeological survey and geochemical and isotopic technology, a case study of the Shiyang River Basin is presented to illustrate ground-water resources and geochemistry and their changes caused by the impact of human activity in the arid area of Northwest China as mentioned in this paper.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the contexts in which these debates take place and how those contexts have contributed to the evolution of our understanding of the intertwined processes that contribute to desertification.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted a grazing experiment from 1992 to 1996 in Inner Mongolia to explore desertification processes of sandy rangeland and found that continuous heavy grazing results in a considerable decrease in vegetation cover, height, standing biomass and root biomass and a significant increase in animal hoof impacts.

TL;DR: In this paper, a wind-tunnel study was conducted to find the optimal windbreak design in terms of its porosity, its distribution with height and the number of rows needed.

TL;DR: In the early 1980s, the situation on the northern part of the Central Plateau of Burkina Faso was characterized by expanding cultivation on lands marginal to agriculture, declining rainfall, low and declining cereal yields, disappearing and impoverishing vegetation, falling ground-water levels and strong outmigration as mentioned in this paper.

TL;DR: The focus was on applying the apparency theory to explain the choice and use of these plants, and trees were more diversified than herbs and bushes in relation to the presence of compound classes.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined woody and herbaceous plant species richness and cover in the San Pedro River flood plain, along lateral gradients of water availability (ground-water depth, surface flow permanence, and rainfall) and flood disturbance (total stream power).

TL;DR: A study of 31 homegardens in a dry forest region in the municipality of Alagoinha, Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil, is described in this article.

TL;DR: Germination in light was significantly greater than in the dark at lower salinity levels and high temperature and the reverse was true at higher salinities.

TL;DR: This article examined the patterns and dynamics of species diversity along a chronosequence of vegetation recovery on sand dunes in a semi-arid region to assess the probability of vegetation restoration via succession, and provided some implications for revegetation practices in this region.

TL;DR: In this article, the impact of rangeland degradation on soil characteristics (compaction, temperature, soil-water content, infiltrability, root and litter turnover, and the organic matter content), was determined for a semi-arid rangelands.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated changes in intensity of wind erosion at different stages of degradation development in sandy grasslands and determine the extent to which surface wind erosion was affected by surface-related soil and vegetation factors through their effects on surface roughness length and wind regimes.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors used spatial pattern analysis to infer on the interactions that shape community structure in a matorral of central Chile and found that negative spatial associations dominated plant assemblages on all slopes, but the importance of negative associations decreased from mesic to xeric slopes.

TL;DR: In this paper, spatial variation in plant community composition and structure in relation to flood frequency was explored on a large hydrologically variable arid floodplain in central Australia, and the results indicate that variable flooding plays an important role in maintaining spatial heterogeneity in plant communities.

TL;DR: Evidence relating to deforestation, woodland and rangeland degradation is reviewed to show that in certain areas, a transition to intensified land use, although initially involving a loss of woodland, has led to the planting or protection of useful trees on farms and maintained biomass levels.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted a large-scale field experiment to determine how changes in amount of summer precipitation and invasions by an African grass (Eragrostis lehmanniana) may interact with soil texture to affect community and ecosystem processes in temperate grasslands and savannas of southern Arizona, USA.

TL;DR: In this article, the effects of winter and summer drought on plants of the Colorado Plateau in western North America were investigated, and three perennial species were selected: Oryzopsis hymenoides, a perennial bunch grass with shallow roots; Gutierrezia sarothrae, a subshrub with dimorphic roots; and Ceratoides lanata, a predominantly deep-rooted woody shrub.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed long-term (60 years) data from 56 meteorological stations for the study of spatial distribution, frequency, seasonality and diurnal variation of the dust storms in Turkmenistan.

TL;DR: In this paper, a cellular automata (CA) model with geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing is proposed to support the local government's effort in zoning of grassland protection areas (GPAs).

TL;DR: Heavy grazing proved to be a strong overriding effect of the positive influences of the woody plants, and emphasizes the importance of conservative stocking rates and proper pasture management.