This study provides a new methodology for simulating environmental water stress index (EWSI) that addresses environmental droughts' stochastic nature at regional and local scales. The current research used a case study of the Upper Ewaso Ngiro river basin in Kenya that possesses regional disparities attributed to climatic, biophysical, and anthropogenic variables. A stochastic modelling approach that

Many species are expected to be at risk from climate change, whereas others may not be threatened because the projected change will occur within their physiological tolerance limits. Particularly, lizards of the genus Uromastyx, known for their narrow climatic and habitat requirements and limited dispersal abilities, might face local or global extinction due to current climate change. To address this

Among the greatest challenges of the arid and semiarid regions is the need for more crop production to meet the increasing demand of the growing population. This study aimed to compare SFI classes with both yield values and vegetation index values derived from satellite images. A total of 281 soil samples were taken at a 1-km resolution in order to quantify the spatial dynamics of soil physical, chemical

The spread of woody plant encroachment is a major concern as it adversely affects herbaceous plant community composition in a savanna ecosystem. Assessing the canopy effects of co-occurring encroaching and non-encroaching woody plant species on the understory herbaceous vegetation biomass and the soil nutrient status can improve our understandings of the link between biological invasions and herbaceous

One of the most recognizable icons of the Namib Desert is the endemic gymnosperm Welwitschia mirabilis. Recent studies indicated that climate change may seriously affect populations in the northern Namibia subrange (Kunene region), but their extinction risk has not yet been assessed. In this study, we apply IUCN criteria to define the extinction risk of welwitschia populations in northern Namibia and

Traditional pastoralism based on free-ranging goats is indispensable for the rural economy of millions of people in the Brazilian Caatinga drylands. The use of landscape as rangelands for domestic herbivores benefits humans, but understanding its impacts on vegetation is crucial to sustainable strategies. Here we assessed how free-ranging domestic goats use mixed working landscapes in the largest dry

Seasonally dry tropical forests are among the most vulnerable ecosystems to the effects of anthropogenic disturbances, and yet their biodiversity is still poorly known. In this study we investigated the composition, activity, structure, and effect of seasonality in mosquitoes’ assemblages of a conservation Caatinga domain unit. The collections consisted of the monthly installation of two Shannon traps

Overgrazing by introduced herbivores is widely recognized as a threatening process in Australia's semi-arid rangelands. Comparatively, grazing by native herbivores is generally considered to have benign effects. Populations of introduced herbivores are controlled in conservation reserves, but populations of native kangaroos and wallabies are seldom subject to control. We investigated the impacts of

The recent study of botanical macro-remains from the Late Sasanian and Early Islamic (5th to 8th century) fort of Fulayj (Batinah, Sultanate of Oman) provides a unique opportunity to discuss food and fuel acquisition strategies in an arid environment and to document periods that are little known from an archaeobotanical perspective in Eastern Arabia. Seed assemblages include the first well-identified

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different controlled water regimes on the morphophysiological indicators, phenophases, and ideal cutting time of forage cacti clones grown in a semiarid environment. From 2016 to 2018, in the semi-arid region of Brazil, the Miúda (MIU), Orelha de Elefante Mexicana (OEM) and IPA Sertânia (IPA) clones were submitted to three regimes (40%, 80% and 120%

Despite the essential role that vertebrate scavengers play in ecosystems, most studies have been conducted in Europe and North America, and there is a lack of information on vertebrate scavengers in vast regions of the world. Our aim was to describe the functioning and composition of the unknown vertebrate scavenger assemblage in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, and determine how carcass size and habitat

Information about the variation of biological attributes in species whose distribution covers more than one biome contributes to understanding phenotype variation in different environments. Herein, we evaluated how ecological aspects of the lizard Gonatodes humeralis vary between rainforest populations (Amazon domain) and a recently registered population in a coastal forest influenced by semiarid climate

Crusts on soil surfaces are well recognized for wind erosion control in arid regions and mine tailings. In the last two decades, the use of microorganisms for crust formation on the soil surface has been developed. The topic here is to examine the durability of a biocrust created by Microcoleus vaginatus cyanobacterium and a biocemented sand crust induced by precipitation of calcium carbonate by Bacillus

Nomad, semi-nomad and transhumant used to be the most frequent mobility types of pastoral society. Nowadays, these categories become questionable in regard to the evolution of the pattern life of families in southern Morocco. How do we link past and present mobility? What have been the changes? In this article, we question the relevance of the aforementioned categories of mobility, as defined by the

Biotic modifiers are species that strongly alter environmental conditions, and that often shape local communities. When more than one biotic modifier co-occurs, the potential for interactive effects exists, where the effects of one species may negate or enhance the impacts of a second biotic modifier. Here we test for an interactive effect of aardvark (Orycteropus afer) burrows and tree presence on

Montane desert birds are particularly vulnerable to population declines driven by global climate change that is accelerated at higher elevations. Providing reliable and accurate information about their populations is essential for effective conservation management plans. However, few studies have compared the effectiveness of different survey methods for birds in high altitude arid environments, particularly

For a typical encroacher tree of the thornbush savanna, we studied the responses of water consumption to changes in soil water availability within 80 cm depth, vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and global radiation. Therefore, we monitored the sap velocities of Senegalia mellifera trees over 2 years in a maximum of 20 stems (6–15 plant individuals) per measurement period on a site in central Namibia. For

Fertile islands play an important role in ecosystem structure and function. However, studies on the effects of fine roots of desert shrubson fertile islands in contrasting textured soils are scarce. We investigated soil water and nutrient contents, microbial biomass, fine root densities of Haloxylon ammodendron (C.A.Mey.), and their enrichment indices along a soil profile (100 cm deep and 200 cm wide)

Agricultural drought in a typical semiarid Mediterranean environment is investigated during the growing seasons of 1997 through 2020 using a combination of optical and thermal sensors onboard Landsat satellites. The combination of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index – Land Surface Temperature (NDVI- LST) space was able to distinguish between drought and non-drought years. A distinct trapezoidal

This essay approaches land degradation by targeting its ultimate thermodynamic causes, rather than its immediate environmental consequences. The objective is to make some propositions that could help understand the essence of the process, and contribute to a theoretical framework to be developed. These propositions are: 1. Human populations are an ecosystem component, not an external driver. 2. Coupled

Hydrogels are a promising management option to increase the efficiency of water use in agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions. However, abiotic factors may affect hydrogel efficacy. The effect of abiotic stress on the swelling and residual acrylamide in hydrogels was evaluated. The treatments were three hydrogels (A, B and C), four temperatures (20, 30, 40 and 65 °C) and two salinities (0.003 and

The Farasan Archipelago is an Important Plant Area near the Arabian Peninsula. The islands are small, low-lying and subject to considerable tourist and industrial development, putting their native flora at risk. Here, we report an updated checklist covering 52 families, including 152 genera and 245 species, which is being published online for the first time. This inventory was performed by a baseline

This study has examined traditional coping systems, emerging adaptation strategies and barriers to the adoption of these strategies. Structured questionnaires on coping and adaptation strategies were conducted among Nyangatom households, expounded by focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Correlations between times series (1987–2016) on rainfall, temperature and the local perceptions

Knowledge about the physical and hydric characterization in the soil is essential for studies on land use and plant development. Thus, this study evaluated water retention and its interrelationships with the physical and chemical attributes of Cambisols under different land uses in a rural settlement in a semiarid region of Brazil. The analysis of soil water retention curves associated with multivariate

Wind erosion results in soil redistribution and textural changes on topsoil. There is little information about how these changes affect plant production. Here, we compared simulations of vegetation growth between a wind-eroded scenario and an actual condition at two sites in Mongolian grasslands (steppe and desert steppe) using an ecosystem model. The wind-eroded scenario, topsoil (0–0.1 m depth) with

To minimize the negative impacts of climate change, adaptation is key. There are, however, a range of factors that, unless recognized and dealt with effectively, can prevent or disrupt adaptation efforts by farmers. Barriers to climate change adaptation in Iran, and their characteristics, are under-researched. They need to be identified and investigated both to inform policymaking and to provide assistance

Drought is a catastrophe that impacts agriculture and causes economic and social damage. An effective monitoring and forecasting system is needed to assess the extent of droughts and to mitigate their effects at both spatial and temporal levels. To this end, we used a Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) in various timescales to classify and track drought events based on CHIRPS rainfall data for

The fourth largest lake in Africa, Lake Chad has shrunk by nearly ninety percent since the 1960s, which has impacted food security and livelihoods for fifty million people residing in the Lake Chad Basin. This short communication discusses how decreased rainfall, exacerbated by climate change, and human activity have contributed to the lake's shrinking and recommends individual, national, and multilateral

We explored the effect of N addition and adult canopy competition on the recruitment of lost preferred species in the Patagonian steppe, where a decelerated N cycling scenario (sensu Ritchie et al., 1998) had been previously detected. In the first experiment we demonstrated that the preferred scarce grass Bromus pictus has typical traits of Competitive species, while the dominant less preferred Pappostipa

Many species occur on unprotected lands, but continuing human pressure makes them rare especially outside protected areas (PAs). The corsac fox is a common predator in Central Asia, but rare in Iran and its conservation status is poorly understood. We aimed to assess its distribution in relation to natural and human factors. Using 31 occurrence records of corsac and 272 of its main prey species, we

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in the world. It provides food for the growing world populations while also creating employment opportunities. This sector, however, is greatly threatened by climate change, increased water scarcity, droughts, land degradation and poor management of resources. The state of drylands in the world raises great concern given that it largely affects third

The Sultanate of Oman has a rich human history, stretching back millennia, however little is known about the history of human – plant interactions, particularly within the ancient villages and communities in Oman's northern mountains. An ethnobotanical study to document the most utilized wild plant species in Oman's Western Hajar Mountains (Jabal Shams and Jabal Asarah) and assess the threats facing

Sky islands are unique systems composed of well-defined biotic communities established along an elevation gradient. Habitat restrictions associated to climate change make the species vulnerable. This study aimed to forecast the changes in the distribution patterns, altitude and the slope effect in selected plant and vertebrate species inhabiting the sky island Sierra La Laguna as a result of the temperature

Carpophilus beetles have been observed in the flowers of some chiropterophilic columnar cacti. However, the visiting and feeding behavior of these beetles in these flowers has not been described in detail. Here, we describe for the first time the visiting and feeding behavior of Carpophilus lugubris in the flowers of Pilosocereus leucocephalus, a chiropterophilous columnar cactus, in a tropical dry

Herbivory and fire promote changes in vegetation patches of arid environments, and recruitment plays a key role in their maintenance. We studied seedling dynamics in seven sites with different land use histories related to grazing and fire in north-eastern Patagonian Monte, Argentina. We selected shrub patches in grazed/burned areas. On each shrub patch, we established seven microsites along an under-canopy

Desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) are a long-lived reptile vulnerable to predation by many predators, including desert kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis arsipus) and coyotes (Canis latrans). From 2009 to 2014, we assessed canid food habits at a study site in the Mojave Desert in California, USA, by collecting and analyzing desert kit fox and coyote scats. These canids primarily consumed small mammals

Goats at high densities are known to degrade vegetation in arid environments around the world. Their role as potential dispersers of seeds of native and exotic plant species, however, still remains uncertain. This study assesses whether goats, through endozoochorous seed dispersal, may potentially change the plant assemblage of seasonally dry tropical forests. We used seedling emergence as a method

The Colorado River has significantly diminished its drainage area and annual discharge. Today it flows across several provinces of Argentina (Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa, Río Negro and Buenos Aires) although during the Upper Pleistocene this watershed area was more extended. Its discharge also diminished significantly during documented times although floods occurred episodically during anomalous ENSO

In this paper, a new approach for mapping polygenic depressions colonised by vegetation is presented. These spatially periodic vegetation patterns situated in the arid areas of North Africa are known locally as "Dayas". The mapping of these structures is an important component in monitoring their evolution which can be regarded as an indicator of socio-environmental conditions. For this purpose, a

Knowledge of species diversity is essential for ecological research and conservation planning, especially in overlooked ecosystems, such as the Sechura desert (SD) and the Tumbesian dry forest (DF) of Peru and Ecuador. Little is known about mammal richness in these Threatened ecosystems and thus, we quantified the richness of medium to large-sized mammals within and outside of protected areas. We used

Levels of water access provided by sand dams were assessed by measuring water presence and use in a representative sample of 97 dams in Kenya. Most dams were filled with sediment capable of holding water, with a 25% median reduction of water capacity due to siltation when using a high estimate for sediment specific yield. Multiple sediment cores taken from each dam indicated the presence of water in

We determine the long-term growth rate and longevity of an Azorella compacta growing on Misti volcano, near Arequipa, Peru to investigate the species' capacity as a geochronological resource. Using 14C dating on stem pieces sequestered within the plant's cushion, which grows larger through time, we obtain ages of 15 ± 15 14C yrs BP and 165 ± 15 14C yrs BP at depths of 15 cm and 29 cm below the cushion's

This paper is a first attempt to compute the total water needs of an agricultural plain with remote sensing and ground data in Iran. The cropping areas were mapped with Sentinels-2 images, based on NDVI profiles classification. This model was validated and 85% of the areas were correctly classified. Second, the crop water needs were computed using PYSEBAL and Landsat-8 images. Crop evapotranspiration

Soils in arid and infra-arid regions of Tunisia (where rainfall does not exceed 180 mm) suffer from rapid degradation of vegetation cover and loss of biodiversity. To limit the progress of desertification, it is necessary to promote the cultivation of autochthonous plants and particularly legumes, pioneer plants used for the restoration of poor soils. 50 strains were isolated from soils of five locations

The conversion of cropland to plantation is important ecological engineering in the Loess Plateau, China. Moreover, the extent of cropland abandonment and fallow is gradually increasing in this area, which probably affects the soil bacterial composition. Therefore, we applied Illumina MiSeq sequencing targeting the V3–V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene to analyze the bacterial community from different

The Mongolian marmot (Marmota sibirica) is a relatively large-bodied, social rodent that lives in colonies across the Mongolian steppes and parts of China and Russia. Marmots serve as ecosystem engineers that display multiple functions on the steppe environments they inhabit. Mongolian marmots experienced a >75% decline across Mongolia in the 1990s that led their listing as endangered globally. The

A distributed hydrological energy-water-balance model (FEST-EWB) is calibrated over the Heihe Basin, a mainly desertic basin in China, employing remotely-sensed Land Surface Temperature (LST) (MODIS, 1-km resolution) as calibration variable. This approach overcomes the problem of model parameters characterization, which are usually difficult to define especially over large basins, allowing a pixel-by-pixel

In view of the scenario of global warming, understanding how individuals disperse and populations fluctuate in response to climatic extremes is becoming increasingly important. Thereby, we used a capture-mark-recapture approach on Columbina minuta and Columbina picui in two Caatinga physiognomies (shrubby-woodland and savanna) during and following a prolonged drought in northeastern Brazil. We evaluated

This study aims to implement the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) concept on a test site: the 309 km2 Nahr Ibrahim watershed Lebanon, by integrating soil erosion as an LDN indicator given its status as a land degradation driver and common concern of the Mediterranean region. Land degradation was mapped, and erosion risk maps were also established. Through LDN's response strategy, an alternative LDN

Geodiversity effects on ecosystem productivity were investigated using remotely sensed data and a mathematical model, by introducing a spatially non-uniform surface-water infiltration. Two hillslope types, with different geodiversity levels, as determined by the soil depth and stoniness, were selected for this study. Low-geodiversity hillslopes (‘homogenous hillslopes’) were identified by their dense

When selecting optimal habitats, animals should rely on detecting environmental cues that indicate the suitability of a given site. In fossorial animals, restrictions of the underground environment might limit the opportunities for habitat selection. However, field observations of some fossorial amphisbaenian reptiles indicate that microhabitat occupancy is not random. This might simply result from

Small-scale dairy production plays a relevant socioeconomic role contributing to improve food security in low income rural settings, such as semiarid Brazil. Milk is mainly supplied to local communities, either distributed by government programs to schools and day-care units, or commercialized privately to final consumers or cheesemakers. However, there is a lack of information about the potential

Wind regime is typically highly variable in space and in time, and the studies of aeolian geomorphology often use a single meteorological station as representative of a specific dune field due to the scarcity of meteorological stations in remote areas. However, the wind regime may vary greatly even between sites located just a few kilometers apart. In this study, to fully understand the relationship

At the end of December 2009, larvae of Casama innotata were observed on Vachellia horrida trees on which it caused a considerable defoliation. In November 2015, a new outbreak was detected. Egg batches and pupae were observed on V. horrida and the native species Hammada scoparia. This work contributes at studying some biological aspects of this insect, on two host species V. horrida and H. scoparia