Showing papers in "Journal of Arid Environments in 2014"

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the first detailed meteorological analysis of the situation in the Horn of Africa, northern Kenya and most of the Sudan, and show that during the years 2008 through 2010 and the first half of 2011 rainfall was 30% to 75% below normal over the region.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors quantified change in precipitation properties from 1910 to 2010 at 22 sites across the northern Chihuahuan Desert using United States Historical Climatology Network daily data.

TL;DR: Its deep root system decreases soil erosion in arid zones, due to stabilisation of the soil, and its protein-rich shoot material makes it an important fodder species for livestock, however, its low energy value means that it should be supplemented with carbohydrate-rich material, such as cereal straw.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors applied the Biosphere Energy Transfer Hydrology Model (BETHY/DLR) to derive net primary productivity (NPP) for Kazakhstan for 2003-2011.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a methodology using time series, high-resolution imagery and fieldwork to validate trend analyses for two regions in the Sahel of Mali and Senegal.

TL;DR: In this article, a survey of 255 farmers, selected through a multistage stratified random sampling method, revealed that farmers' decisions to manage a drought were the result of a complex web of natural, economic, structural, and cognitive factors.

TL;DR: In this paper, a 3-year experiment was conducted in an arid area in Xinjiang, northwestern China from 2008 to 2011, where over 15,000 soil samples were collected during the experimental years.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used long-term surveys and repeat photography to assess vegetation change at the shrubland-grassland ecotone in semi-arid, South Africa.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors used remote sensing imagery to characterize the hydrological dynamics of 8404 temporary freshwater wetlands (playas) in Texas from 2008 to 2011, comparing known wet and dry periods, and related these to land use within 100 meters.

TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of annual and triennial prescribed fires conducted in early spring on soil moisture, temperature, and N, plant growth, and plant N content in semiarid shortgrass steppe were examined.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measured the influence of landscape factors on patterns of wolf-livestock conflict in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia by modeling livestock predation risk using a partitioned Mahalanobis D 2 (k ) analysis.

TL;DR: In this article, an enhanced Biome-BGC model including crop growth processes was used to quantify the effects on regional net primary productivity (NPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) in a representative catchment.

TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper analyzed the effects of different land use policies on vegetation cover and the attitude of local people toward policy changes in Uxin county, Inner Mongolia, China, based on remote sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series and household surveys.

TL;DR: Findings reveal that greater biomass allocation to roots and greater responsiveness of root growth to differing precipitation regimes of medusahead may favor its ecological success over other invasive annuals under future climate scenarios.

TL;DR: In this paper, the socio-ecological evolution of arid rangelands is analyzed from a political ecology and co-evolutionary perspectives and discusses three main factors: (1) world-wide application of western-based paradigms in resource management and their effect on rangelants, (2) the fossil-fuel based Green Revolution, and (3) capitalist institutions used to regulate agricultural trade and the corresponding tools and policies.

TL;DR: While native colonizing species are often themselves considered “weedy”, they may be able to serve a transitory role in community recovery, allowing restoration in invaded systems to progress towards more desirable vegetation.

TL;DR: The allelopathic effect of P. juliflora, however, may override its facilitative effect and consequently resulted in a depressive effect on the associated flora, which was more obvious on the annual compared with perennial plants.

TL;DR: In this article, the feasibility of rainwater harvesting from roof catchments in arid regions of Australia was examined, and the reliability of a RWH system is highly dependent on mean annual rainfall at the location of interest.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the experience of monitoring land and water degradation in the salinity-prone irrigated arid environments of the Northern Sahara in light of current international scientific developments affecting both conceptual and methodological approaches.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the effect of altitude on plant community composition along an altitudinal gradient ranging from 400 to 600 meters a.s.l. by sampling 75 plots in a Brazilian savanna steppe characterized by a diversity of plant community types.

TL;DR: In this article, the effects of different fire management strategies on semi-arid savanna vegetation and to assess their long-term suitability for semiarid rangeland management were evaluated.

TL;DR: It is highlighted that for improved understanding of plant interactions along stress gradients, interactions between species pairs and interactions at the community level should be assessed, as these may reveal contrasting results.

TL;DR: In this paper, the impacts of nitrogen (N) deposition and precipitation gradients on soil chemistry and functioning of calcareous soils from semiarid Mediterranean shrublands were studied, suggesting the role of rainfall in the response of soil C and N storage capacity to N deposition.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measured temporal variability in bat activity and insect availability along two desert streams of contrasting productivity, hydrology, and riparian vegetation in Arizona, USA, and found that terrestrial and aquatic insect availability at the San Pedro River were similar or dominated by terrestrial insects throughout the spring and summer.

TL;DR: In this paper, the main focus has been directed to determine which different plant species are highly adapted and capable to produce significant amounts of triglycerides to be used in the biodiesel industry under arid conditions, but very few studies have addressed the technological changes that will be needed to convert triglycerides into biofuels without making a large consumption of scarce water, as it is demanded by current technology.

TL;DR: Temperature data-loggers can provide an easy and effective way of monitoring nests, without the need of repeated nest visits, and highlight some of the constraints that birds breeding in arid environments, such as sandgrouse, face during incubation.

TL;DR: Investigation of the leaf size and structure of Campylotropis polyantha occurring in five 80–100 m elevational bands in the arid Minjiang River valley concludes that water-related factors are the main mechanisms underlying leaf variations across elevations.

TL;DR: In this paper, resource-selection patterns of cows were investigated using global positioning system (GPS) collars for 2 years before and for 5 years after a fall prescribed burn was applied to mesic sagebrush steppe in the Owyhee Mountains of southwestern Idaho, USA.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined variations in the relative importance of facilitation vs. competition, in light of the Stress-Gradient Hypothesis (SGH) by assessing plant interactions along an aridity gradient over biogeographic scales.

TL;DR: There are recurring questions about the ecological sustainability of indigenous resource management and what traditional ecological knowledge and rationale underlie such practices Pastoral nomads from the Hadandawa, Amar Ar, Bishaari, Ababda and Maˁaza tribes in the Red Sea Hills of Egypt and Sudan have relied on drought persistent Acacia tortilis trees for millennia as mentioned in this paper.