Anton Imeson

Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Desertification offers a comprehensive overview of the subject and clearly emphasizes the link between local and global desertification processes and how past and current policy has affected arid environments and their populations.

This text adequately applies the research undertaken during the last 15 years on the topic. Desertification has become increasingly politicized and there is a need to present and explain the facts from a global perspective. This book tackles the issues surrounding desertification in a number of ways from differing scales (local to global), processes (physical to human), the relationship of desertification to current global development and management responses at different scales. Desertification has been mainstreamed and integrated into other areas of concern and has consequently been ignored as a cross cutting issue. The book redresses this balance.

Making use of much original data and information that has been undertaken by many scientists andpractitioners during the last decade in different parts of the world, Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability is organised according to the principles of adaptive management and hierarchy theory and clearly explains desertification within a framework of evolving and interacting physical and socio-economic systems. In addition to research data the book also draws from the National Action Plans of different countries, the IPCC Fourth Assessment on Climate Change and the Millennium assessments.

Clearly structured throughout, the content of the book is organised at different scales; local, regional and global. It also specifically explains processes linking top-down and bottom- up interactions and has a strong human component. The historical, cultural and physical context is also stressed.

Clearly organised into the following distinct sections:

a) Concepts and processes

b) Data

c) Impacts

d) Responses

e) Case studies.

This text is essential for anyone studying desertification as part of an earth and environmental science degree.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Wiley & Sons
• 1. Auflage
• Seitenzahl: 344
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. Dezember 2011
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 244mm x 169mm x 20mm
• Gewicht: 518g
• ISBN-13: 9780470714492
• ISBN-10: 0470714492
• Artikelnr.: 34160757

Autorenporträt

Anton Imeson has spent the last 15 years as a Professor responsible for research and teaching in desertification at the Physical Geography and Soil science Laboratory of the University of Amsterdam, as a participant and co-ordinator of many research projects funded by the mainly by the EU (EG Medalus Scape Efeda, Desertlinks, Desire and Ermes as COST acgtions); as a participant and consultant for UN organisations (UNDP, UNDP). He has contributed to the EU Soil Strategy on Desertification and is a member of the organising committee of many Scientific and Policy conferences on desertification. Editor of Land Degradation and Development, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms and Earth Science Reviews.

Inhaltsangabe

Preface xi Acknowledgement xv Introduction: Scope and approach 1 Part I The
Nature of Desertification 3 1 Desertification, its causes and why it
matters 5 1.1 The nature of desertification 7 1.2 The links between global
and local desertification 27 1.3 Discussion: desertification as a
world-wide and historical phenomenon 27 1.4 Discussion: life and its
feedback with the environment 31 1.5 Discussion: the adaptation of people
and cultures to desertification 32 1.6 Discussion: Data and evidence for
land degradation 34 1.7 Conclusion: why land degradation and
desertification occur 35 References and further reading 36 2 Responses to
desertification 41 2.1 Finding answers 41 2.2 Conclusion: The causes of
land degradation today 51 2.3 Conclusion: strategies to mitigate
desertification 52 References and further reading 53 3 Desertification
indicators: from concept to practice 57 3.1 Introduction 57 3.2 Approaches
to desertification indicators 62 3.3 Global and regional indicators of land
degradation and desertification 65 3.4 Applying selected concepts in
practice 68 3.5 Desertification, resilience and stability 75 3.6 The soil
and water conservation and protection functions 84 3.7 Spatial variability
and discontinuity 95 3.8 Hydrological indicators of desertification 100 3.9
Water in the soil and landscape 105 References and further reading 109 Part
II Local Desertification Impact and Response 115 4 Key processes regulating
soil and landscape functions 117 4.1 Introduction 117 4.2 Fine scale
processes 123 4.3 The provision of the hydrological function, runoff and
sediment transport 130 4.4 The protection function of the land and erosion
132 4.5 The long-term impact: the vigil network sites in the USA 134 4.6
Hydrological response: what happens to the land when it rains 135 4.7 Water
136 4.8 Nature, natural capital and land degradation 142 4.9 Soil stability
144 4.10 Soil response and soil behaviour 145 4.11 Catchment response,
hydrology and the soil 146 4.12 Discussion: vegetation patterns as
responses to land degradation processes 148 4.13 Controlled desertification
experiments 149 References and further reading 149 5 Human impact on
degradation processes 155 5.1 Introduction 155 5.2 Soil erosion processes
156 5.3 Response of soil structure to cultivation and farming 158 5.4 Gully
erosion 162 5.5 Grazing and erosion 165 5.6 The impact of fire on land
degradation processes 167 5.7 Case 1: Blue Ridge Foothills 168 5.8 Case 2:
Human impact in the Atlantic States 169 5.9 Case 3: Impact of forest
logging in California Casper Creek 169 5.10 Case 4: Karuah Forest, New
South Wales, Australia 170 5.11 Case 5: Afforestation in Spain 171 5.12
Case 6: Soil erosion impacts in Europe 171 5.13 Case 7: Human impact in the
Central Cordillera of Columbia 174 5.14 Case 8: Bolivia Tarije 175 5.15 The
sediment load and soil erosion 176 5.16 Monitoring methods to verify impact
and management on erosion 177 5.17 Water resource development irrigation as
responses 179 5.18 Soil conservation principles and erosion 180 5.19
Conceptual approaches to soil conservation 182 References and further
reading 185 6 Responses to land degradation from perception to action 191
6.1 Introduction 191 6.2 Environmentally sensitive areas 199 6.3 The
European policy, response, and governance 200 6.4 Applying the adaptive
systems approach explicitly 207 6.5 Responding with laws to protect the
land and soil 213 6.6 European law and the requirements of the convention
217 6.7 The European soil strategy 219 6.8 Romania: A model national action
plan 220 6.9 Italy and the convention 225 References and further reading
230 Part III Global Desertification Impact and Response 237 7 Global
desertification today 239 7.1 Desertification today 239 7.2 Global balances
and fluxes 247 7.3 Case study: desertification and the crash in property
prices 254 7.4 Brazil 257 7.5 Namibia 259 7.6 Dust and sandstorms in China
262 References and further reading 263 8 Desertification, ecosystem
services and capital 267 8.1 Introduction 267 8.2 Interactions between
desertification and ecosystem services 281 8.3 The impact of
desertification on ecosystem services 284 References and further reading
290 9 The way forward: global soil conservation and protection 293 9.1
Introduction 293 9.2 Iceland 294 9.3 The call for action 296 9.4 Europe 299
9.5 Support to the UNCCD 301 9.6 The importance of international
co-operation 302 References and further reading 303 Appendix A: Soil basics
305 References and further reading 309 Index 311