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14 - Drylands

from Part IV - Managing Connectivity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2025

By
Patricia Saco ,
Jose Rodriguez ,
Mariano Moreno-de las Heras ,
Steven Sandi Rojas  and
Juan Quijano-Baron
Edited by
Ronald Pöppl ,
Anthony Parsons  and
Saskia Keesstra
Ronald Pöppl
Affiliation:
BOKU University Vienna
Anthony Parsons
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Saskia Keesstra
Affiliation:
Wageningen Universiteit, The Netherlands
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Summary

Vegetation cover in drylands tends to be sparse and organised as a mosaic of patches with high biomass interspersed within a bare soil component. Water availability and vegetation are tightly coupled in these environments, where landscape function is determined by hydrologic and sediment connectivity. In this chapter, we analyse and synthesise previous studies describing how understanding, measuring and modifying connectivity can be used to guide the design of management strategies aiming at improving landscape resilience. We describe how drylands are very sensitive to both water and wind erosion, which have the potential to increase connectivity beyond tipping points at which the system transitions abruptly to a degraded state that may be irreversible. We discuss methods for the identification of early warning indicators of transition to degraded states, which could be used as a preventive management tool. We also describe existing strategies and approaches to reduce connectivity at different spatial scales as a way of managing degraded landscapes.

Keywords

vegetation patchesmeasuring and modifying connectivitymanagement strategieslandscape resiliencetipping points
Type
Chapter
Information
Connectivity in Geomorphology , pp. 355 - 378
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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