Given the increasing speed and intensity of ongoing climate change and human interventions, more systematic research is needed to realize the Sustainable Development Goals in drylands. The current research status of drylands globally was reviewed together with a conceptual framework that included four key themes: (1) dryland social-ecological system dynamics and driving forces, (2) dryland social-ecological system structure and functions, (3) dryland ecosystem services and human well-being in a changing environment and society, and (4) ecosystem management and sustainable livelihoods in drylands. The themes and their linkages were then analysed to outline three research priorities under each theme. The resulting conceptual framework and research priorities were proposed as the agenda of a new scientific programme, the Global Dryland Ecosystem Programme (Global-DEP), which is intended to facilitate actionable interdisciplinary research on drylands. This framework could be useful for wider dryland research and help meet the needs of practitioners and policymakers in drylands.

鉴于持续不断的气候变化和人类干预的速度和强度越来越大，需要更多的系统研究来实现干旱地区的可持续发展目标。综述了全球旱地的当前研究现状以及包括四个关键主题的概念框架：（1）旱地社会生态系统的动力学和驱动力；（2）旱地社会生态系统的结构和功能；（3）旱地生态系统服务和人类在不断变化的环境和社会中的福祉，以及（4）干旱地区的生态系统管理和可持续生计。然后分析了主题及其联系，以概述每个主题下的三个研究重点。提出了由此产生的概念框架和研究重点，作为一项新的科学计划的议程，全球旱地生态系统计划（Global-DEP），旨在促进对旱地的可行的跨学科研究。该框架可能对更广泛的旱地研究有用，并有助于满足旱地从业者和决策者的需求。