Management of Semi-Arid EcosystemsB.H. Walker Extensive regions of the world have a climate which, whilst permitting development of a continuous vegetative cover, is too dry for successful annual cropping. These are the semi-arid areas where land use is based on the natural vegetation. Easily degraded and difficult to maintain, they are under increasing pressure as expanding human populations move in and endeavour to force a living from them. As a result they contain some of the worst examples of resource degradation. This book examines the problems and opportunities involved in man's use of semi-arid areas. The authors are all actively involved in research and land management in the areas discussed. Each chapter begins with a detailed, up-to-date account of the ecology of the region (its climate, soils, vegetation, fauna and main ecological characteristics). This is followed by a history of land use, problems involved in its management, a review of current research and recommended land use practices. The common features of semi-arid ecosystems are brought together in a final section. |
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Acacia Africa Agric agriculture Andhra Pradesh animals areas arid lands arid zone Aristida Arizona Australia Baggara Basin Bedouin breeding caatinga carrying capacity cattle Central cerrado climate common crops cultivation density desert dominant drought dry season East ecological effects Eragrostis erosion Flourensia fodder forage forest goats grass grasslands grazing systems growth herbaceous Herbel herbivores herd improvement increased India irrigation Kazakhstan land-use layer livestock mainly major Matorral mean annual Mexico Negev nomadic northern occur over-grazing paddocks pasture perennial period Plains plants Plateau population Pradesh precipitation production Prosopis rainfall Rajasthan rangelands result Rhodesia rotational grazing sand sandy savanna Schmidtia seed semi-arid semi-arid ecosystems semi-arid regions semi-arid savanna semi-arid zone semi-desert semi-desert zone sheep shrublands shrubs soils southern species steppe stocking rate Sudan temperature termites Themeda triandra tion trees and shrubs utilization vegetation types western wheat winter woodland woody yields