Browsing by Subject "Drylands"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Drivers of woody dominance across global drylands
    (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2024-10-11) Biancari, Lucio; Aguiar, Martín R.; Eldridge, David J.; Oñatibia, Gastón R.; Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Yoann; Saiz, Hugo; Gross, Nicolas; Austin, Amy T.; Ochoa, Victoria; Gozalo, Beatriz; Asensio, Sergio; Guirado, Emilio; Valencia, Enrique; Berdugo, Miguel; Plaza, César; Martínez-Valderrama, Jaime; Mendoza, Betty J.; García-Gómez, Miguel; Abedi, Mehdi; Ahumada, Rodrigo J.; Alcántara, Julio M.; Amghar, Fateh; Anadón, José D.; Aramayo, Valeria; Arredondo, Tulio; Bader, Maaike Y.; Bahalkeh, Khadijeh; Ben Salem, Farah; Blaum, Niels; Boldgiv, Bazartseren; Bowker, Matthew; Branquinho, Cristina; Bu, Chongfeng; Byambatsogt, Batbold; Calvo, Dianela A.; Castillo Monroy, Andrea P.; Castro, Helena; Castro-Quezada, Patricio; Chibani, Roukaya; Conceição, Abel A.; Currier, Courtney M.; Donoso, David A.; Dougill, Andrew; Ejtehadi, Hamid; Espinosa, Carlos I.; Fajardo, Alex; Farzam, Mohammad; Ferrante, Daniela; Fraser, Lauchlan H.; Gaitán, Juan J.; Gherardi, Laureano A.; Gusmán-Montalván, Elizabeth; Hernández-Hernández, Rosa M.; Hölzel, Norbert; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Hughes, Frederic M.; Jadán, Oswaldo; Jeltsch, Florian; Jentsch, Anke; Ju, Mengchen; Kaseke, Kudzai F.; Kindermann, Liana; Köbel, Melanie; le Roux, Peter C.; Liancourt, Pierre; Linstädter, Anja; Liu, Jushan; Louw, Michelle A.; Maggs-Kölling, Gillian; Malam Issa, Oumarou; Marais, Eugene; Margerie, Pierre; Messeder, João Vitor S.; Mora, Juan P.; Moreno, Gerardo; Munson, Seth M.; Oliva, Gabriel; Pueyo, Yolanda; Quiroga, R. Emiliano; Reed, Sasha C.; Rey, Pedro J.; Rodríguez, Alexandra; Rodríguez, Laura B.; Rolo, Víctor; Ruppert, Jan C.; Sala, Osvaldo; Salah, Ayman; Stavi, Ilan; Stephens, Colton R. A.; Swemmer, Anthony M.; Teixido, Alberto L.; Thomas, Andrew D.; Throop, Heather L.; Tielbörger, Katja; Travers, Samantha K.; van den Brink, Liesbeth; Wagner, Viktoria; Wamiti, Wanyoike; Wang, Deli; Wang, Lixin; Wolff, Peter; Yahdjian, Laura; Zaady, Eli; Maestre, Fernando T.; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Science
    Increases in the abundance of woody species have been reported to affect the provisioning of ecosystem services in drylands worldwide. However, it is virtually unknown how multiple biotic and abiotic drivers, such as climate, grazing, and fire, interact to determine woody dominance across global drylands. We conducted a standardized field survey in 304 plots across 25 countries to assess how climatic features, soil properties, grazing, and fire affect woody dominance in dryland rangelands. Precipitation, temperature, and grazing were key determinants of tree and shrub dominance. The effects of grazing were determined not solely by grazing pressure but also by the dominant livestock species. Interactions between soil, climate, and grazing and differences in responses to these factors between trees and shrubs were key to understanding changes in woody dominance. Our findings suggest that projected changes in climate and grazing pressure may increase woody dominance in drylands, altering their structure and functioning.
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    Fog and Dew as Potable Water Resources: Maximizing Harvesting Potential and Water Quality Concerns
    (Wiley, 2018) Kaseke, Kudzai F.; Wang, Lixin; Earth Sciences, School of Science
    Fog and dew are often viewed as economic nuisances causing significant financial losses in the transportation industry and agricultural sector. However, they are also critical components of the hydrological cycle, especially in water scarce environments. Water scarcity is one of the major threats to mankind in the 21st century, and this can be due to development pressures, pollution, and/or expanding populations. In water scarce environments, fog and dew represent potentially exploitable ancillary water resources that could ameliorate the water scarce situation, if efficiently harvested. However, two important issues are often overlooked in relation to fog and dew harvesting and potability. First, current fog and dew harvesting technologies are low yielding with great potential for improvements. Second and more importantly, the potability of these water resources is often based on simple analyses that often omit trace metal and biological analyses. The few studies that report trace metal or biological measurements suggest elevated trace metal concentrations or biological contamination that could be of concern to public health. We discuss the potential for fog and dew harvesting technologies and the need for trace metal and biological analyses of these waters before use.
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    The water of life: Where does desert fog come from?
    (Futurum, 2021) Wang, Lixin; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Science
    The lack of rainfall in desert environments means that many plants and animals rely on fog and dew to provide their water. But where does this fog come from? And what will happen to these ecosystems as the climate changes? Professor Lixin Wang, a hydrologist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in the US, has been looking for the answers to these questions.