Patterns of Land Degradation in Drylands

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Land Degradation in Drylands: An Ecogeomorphological Approach

   • Eva Nora Mueller, John Wainwright, Anthony J. Parsons, Laura Turnbull

   Pages 1-9

3. Theory: Linking Process to Pattern

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11

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   2. The Study of Land Degradation in Drylands: State of the Art

      • Tamara Hochstrasser, James D. A. Millington, Vasilios P. Papanastasis, Anthony J. Parsons, Pier Paolo Roggero, Richard E. Brazier et al.

      Pages 13-54

   3. Resilience, Self-Organization, Complexity and Pattern Formation

      • Florian Jeltsch, Laura Turnbull, Stefania Scarsoglio, Concepcion L. Alados, Francesc Gallart, Eva Nora Mueller et al.

      Pages 55-84

   4. Short-Range Ecogeomorphic Processes in Dryland Systems

      • Nicolas Barbier, Juan Bellot, Pierre Couteron, Anthony J. Parsons, Eva Nora Mueller

      Pages 85-101

   5. Long-Range Ecogeomorphic Processes

      • Artemi Cerdà, Francesc Gallart, Junran Li, Vasilios P. Papanastasis, Robert R. Parmenter, Laura Turnbull et al.

      Pages 103-139

   6. Integrating Short- and Long-Range Processes into Models: The Emergence of Pattern

      • Kelly K. Caylor, Greg S. Okin, Laura Turnbull, John Wainwright, Thorsten Wiegand, Trenton E. Franz et al.

      Pages 141-167

4. Methods for Confronting Models with Data

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 169-169

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   2. Approaches to Modelling Ecogeomorphic Systems

      • Laura Turnbull, Tamara Hochstrasser, Mareike Wieczorek, Andreas Baas, John Wainwright, Stefania Scarsoglio et al.

      Pages 171-209

   3. Characterizing Patterns

      • Pierre Couteron, Philip Hunke, Juan Bellot, Joan Estrany, Núria Martínez-Carreras, Eva Nora Mueller et al.

      Pages 211-245

   4. Assessment of Patterns in Ecogeomorphic Systems

      • Nicolas Barbier, Juan Bellot, Pierre Couteron, Thorsten Wiegand, Volker Grimm, Vincent Deblauwe et al.

      Pages 247-264

   5. Uncertainty Assessment

      • Richard E. Brazier, Tobias Krueger, John Wainwright

      Pages 265-285

5. Case Studies

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 287-287

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   2. Vegetation Change in the Southwestern USA: Patterns and Processes

      • Laura Turnbull, John Wainwright, Sujith Ravi

      Pages 289-313

   3. Vegetation Mosaics of Arid Western New South Wales, Australia: Considerations of Their Origin and Persistence

      • David L. Dunkerley

      Pages 315-345

   4. Case Study of Self-Organized Vegetation Patterning in Dryland Regions of Central Africa

      • Nicolas Barbier, Pierre Couteron, Vincent Deblauwe

      Pages 347-356

   5. Abandonment of Agricultural Land, Agricultural Policy and Land Degradation in Mediterranean Europe

      • Anthony J. Parsons

      Pages 357-366

   6. Land Degradation in Drylands: Reëvaluating Pattern-Process Interrelationships and the Role of Ecogeomorphology

      • Eva Nora Mueller, John Wainwright, Anthony J. Parsons, Laura Turnbull, James D. A. Millington, Vasilios P. Papanastasis

      Pages 367-383

6. Back Matter

   Pages 385-389

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Land degradation in drylands is a multi-faceted problem. Consequently, current management approaches that attempt to mitigate such land degradation often fail to produce significant improvements. The processes associated with land degradation in drylands fall at the interface of ecology and geomorphology. For a better understanding of this degradation, there is a need to uncover the underlying dynamics and characteristic responses to environmental drivers and human-induced disturbances. A primary characteristic of this land degradation is a change in processes and the emergence of patterns; but there remain many unknowns as to how these changing processes and emerging patterns are connected. In the first section of this keystone manual, the theory of ecogeomorphic pattern-process linkages is explored, establishing an integrated view of current concepts of pattern emergence and self-organization from an ecogeomorphic perspective.  The second section of the book explores methods for confronting models with data for the study of pattern-process linkages, bringing together divergent empirical and modelling methodologies to provide a fully integrated understanding of land degradation in drylands. Four case studies from drylands in Europe, Africa, Australia and North America outline the advances in ecogeomorphic research that have been made in these systems. Learning from this diverse range of studies and approaches, a research agenda for the emerging field of ecogeomorphology in land-degradation studies in drylands is set forth.

• Desertification
• Ecogeomorphology
• Integrated modelling
• Land degradation
• Self-organising systems

• Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

  Eva Nora Mueller

• Department of Geography, University of Durham, Durham, United Kingdom

  John Wainwright

• Sheffield Centre for International Drylands Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

  Anthony J. Parsons

• Department of Geography Science Laboratories, Durham University Inst. of Hazards, Risk and Resilienc, Durham, United Kingdom

  Laura Turnbull

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