Abstract Desertification is one of the fundamental problems that threaten many arid and semi-arid areas. The formulation of the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), adopted in Paris, 1994 and ratified in 1996, with the active participation of Egypt, gave emphasis on combating the major threats to sustainability of dry lands. Recently, different models were developed to fo...

Introduction Pastoralists who inhabit the African arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) are among the world’s poorest populations. They lack vital infrastructure in the form of accessible roads, electricity and telecommunications, leaving them increasingly isolated. Livestock holdings of cattle, camels, goats and sheep often comprise the bulk of their limited wealth and are an integral part of their ...

Present-day climate cannot account for the presence of such lakes in the arid to semi arid area of Jordan. Therefore more intense and wetter Mediterranean cyclones in winter coupled with Arabian monsoon or even ArabianIndian monsoon in summer would have affected major parts of Jordan up to latitude 31° 32 ́ during the warmer periods of the Pleistocene and brought more rain to establish and susta...

Acid drainage (AD) has been recognized as one of the major problems facing the Australian mining industry. Much of Australia has a semi-arid to arid climate and is sparsely populated. The impact of AD is therefore less here than in many other countries. Nevertheless, community and shareholder expectations, and the globalization of Australian mining company activities, have ensured the industry ...

Cactaceae represents one of the most species-rich families of succulent plants native to arid and semi-arid ecosystems, yet the associations Cacti establish with microorganisms and the rules governing microbial community assembly remain poorly understood. We analyzed the composition, diversity, and factors influencing above- and below-ground bacterial, archaeal, and fungal communities associate...

Awareness of sustainable management of water and its biological resources is rising in West Africa, but application of effective tools for biomonitoring and detecting habitats at risk in aquatic ecosystems is limited. In this study, we provide key environmental descriptors to characterize reference sites by applying the following "a priori criteria" (physical and chemical, hydro-morphological, ...

Overgrazing is one of the most primary causes of desertification in semi-arid zones of China. From 1992 to 1994 we conducted a grazing experiment in Naiman (lat. 42◦58′N, long. 120◦43′E, 345 m asl), Inner Mongolia, China to elucidate desertification mechanisms. Our experimental field, which was covered with some short grasses, legumes and forbs, included four plots where grazing sheep numbers d...

Greenhouse commercial horticulture in Kenya started more than two decades ago and has evolved to be a significant sector to the national economy. So far no studies have explored the spatial patterns and dynamics of the area under greenhouse cultivation. Google Earth archives alongside data from various portals provided an opportunity to study those farms’ spatial distribution. The roles of sele...