Dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems: water at the core

Dryland systems occur on all continents and cover about 41 percent of the Earth's land surface, with little variation in this figure in recent decades. Drylands differ in their moisture deficit and can be classified in four subtypes according to the United Nations Environment (UNEP) aridity ind...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inUnasylva Vol. 70; no. 251; pp. 27 - 35
Main Authors del Campo, A D, González-Sanchis, M, Ilstedt, U, Bargués-Tobella, A, Ferraz, S
Format Magazine Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Rome Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 01.01.2019
Subjects
Aquifers
Arid environments
Arid lands
Arid regions
Arid zones
Case studies
Climate change
Drought
Earth surface
Ecosystems
Forest management
Forest Science
Grasslands
Groundwater
Groundwater recharge
Precipitation
Skogsvetenskap
Soil erosion
Trees
Vegetation
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Summary:Dryland systems occur on all continents and cover about 41 percent of the Earth's land surface, with little variation in this figure in recent decades. Drylands differ in their moisture deficit and can be classified in four subtypes according to the United Nations Environment (UNEP) aridity index (AI)1 as dry subhumid, semiarid, arid or hyperarid (<0.05). Forests and grasslands are the dominant biomes in the dry subhumid and semiarid subtypes, respectively (more than 60 percent of the subtype areas). On the other hand, the arid and hyperarid subtypes are mostly treeless (FAO, 2016) and thus beyond the scope of this article. Climate change is expected to cause an increase in the global area of drylands of 10-23 percent, depending on dryland subtype, by the end of the twenty-first century, particularly in areas of North and South America, the Mediterranean, southern Africa, Australia, the Middle East and Central Asia.
ISSN:0041-6436
1564-3697