Multifaceted Impacts of Sustainable Land Management in Drylands: A Review

Abstract

Biophysical restoration or rehabilitation measures of land have demonstrated to be effective in many scientific projects and small-scale environmental experiments. However circumstances such as poverty, weak policies, or inefficient scientific knowledge transmission can hinder the effective upscaling of land restoration and the long term maintenance of proven sustainable use of soil and water. This may be especially worrisome in lands with harsh environmental conditions. This review covers recent efforts in landscape restoration and rehabilitation with a functional perspective aiming to simultaneously achieve ecosystem sustainability, economic efficiency, and social wellbeing. Water management and rehabilitation of ecosystem services in croplands, rangelands, forests, and coastlands are reviewed. The joint analysis of such diverse ecosystems provides a wide perspective to determine: (i) multifaceted impacts on biophysical and socio-economic factors; and (ii) elements influencing effective upscaling of sustainable land management practices. One conclusion can be highlighted: voluntary adoption is based on different pillars, i.e. external material and economic support, and spread of success information at the local scale to demonstrate the multidimensional benefits of sustainable land management. For the successful upscaling of land management, more attention must be paid to the social system from the first involvement stage, up to the long term maintenance.

Rehabilitation of degraded dryland ecosystems – review

“…For highly degraded dry forests active restoration approaches, such as multi-species planting (afforestation and reforestation), framework species, maximum diversity, and nurse tree methods may be more appropriate than passive restoration methods (Marques et al 2016). Passive restoration methods have been shown to be ineffective in rehabilitating severely degraded sites (Laycock 1995).…”

“…The rehabilitation strategies developed for moister forests may not be the best suited for dry forests. The high proportion of small-seeded wind dispersed species, the high sprouting ability and the relatively simple structure and low diversity of dry forests in comparison to moist forests (Vieira and Scariot 2006) should be taken into considerations in the selection of rehabilitation strategies (Marques et al 2016). Depending on the site conditions and the objectives either a single or combinations of different rehabilitation methods can be utilized.…”

“…In Tunisia, for instance, rangeland resting has been practiced traditionally, where increases in fodder production, soil organic matter, and biodiversity, while reduction in soil erosion have been observed (Ouled-Belgacem 2012). In Niger, distribution of points of available water, building water harvesting structures, and facilitating passageways for herds have been adopted as passive restoration techniques to rehabilitate rangelands, which is proved to be successful to reduce overgrazing problem by 30-40% (Marques et al 2016).…”

“…Leguminous trees within dryland agroforestry systems contribute to soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen and inputting into the soil, retrieving of nutrients from below the rooting zone of crops, and reducing nutrient losses from leaching and erosion (Buresh and Tian 1998). The woody component can also provide possibilities for the use of green and animal manure for the amelioration of the soil (Pinho et al 2012;Marques et al 2016). In addition, agroforests enhance the diversity and abundance of the soil biota and nutrient cycling.…”

“…Land degradation is driven by human activities (unsustainable land use), adverse climatic conditions such as extended or recurrent droughts, and population increase (UNEP 1997;Msangi 2004;Mganga et al 2015;Oudenhoven et al 2015). Natural forces, through periodic stresses of extreme and persistent climatic events, and human mismanagement (inappropriate use of irrigation, overgrazing, deforestation, urban sprawl) of sensitive and vulnerable dryland ecosystems, often act in unison, creating feedback processes (WMO 2005;Marques et al 2016). Occasional droughts and long-term severe droughts can both be aggravated by the influence of humans on the environment.…”