Traversing the Wasteland: A Framework for Assessing Ecological Threats to Drylands

Abstract

Drylands cover 41% of the Earth's terrestrial surface, play a critical role in global ecosystem function, and are home to over two billion people. Like other biomes, drylands face increasing pressure from global change, but many of these ecosystems are close to tipping points, which, if crossed, can lead to abrupt transitions and persistent degraded states. Their limited but variable precipitation, low soil fertility, and low productivity have given rise to a perception that drylands are wastelands, needing societal intervention to bring value to them. Negative perceptions of drylands synergistically combine with conflicting sociocultural values regarding what constitutes a threat to these ecosystems. In the present article, we propose a framework for assessing threats to dryland ecosystems and suggest we must also combat the negative perceptions of drylands in order to preserve the ecosystem services that they offer.

Strategies for global rangeland stewardship: Assessment through the lens of the equilibrium–non‐equilibrium debate

“…A fundamental challenge for rangeland stewardship—perhaps more so than other land cover types—is that the vast majority of ecosystem services are not inherently perceived to have value, both within and beyond the market economy (Davies et al, 2015; Herrick et al, 2012; Kratli & Schareika, 2010). The extent to which rangelands are marginalized is inherent in the terms used to describe their deficiencies for providing provisioning services; that is, unpredictability, resource scarcity, sparse human populations and remoteness—collectively termed the drylands syndrome (Foran et al, 2019; Hoover et al, 2020; Reynolds et al, 2007). Similarly, Sayre et al (2013) refer to rangelands as lands that have not yet been converted to other uses with higher rates of economic production and return.…”

“…The pivotal challenge in this transformation will be navigating the complex trade‐offs that exist among individual beneficiaries of provisioning services and ecosystem capacity to provision diverse ecosystem services to benefit society. A conceptual prerequisite to successful transformation may be replacement of the marginalization narrative that has long‐characterized rangelands, with one that explicitly recognizes the aggregate value of rangeland ecosystem services (Hoover et al, 2020; Verstraete et al, 2009).…”

Using Biomimicry to Support Resilient Infrastructure Design

“…The Chihuahuan Desert will alternate between grass‐ and shrub‐dominant vegetation depending on the temporal and spatial variation of groundwater availability, precipitation, grazing, wildfire disturbance, etc. as well as anthropogenic drivers (Bestelmeyer et al, 2018; Hoover et al, 2020). Learning can be used in infrastructure systems through monitoring, which can be as complex as implementing information and communication technology (ICT, a technological solution) or utilizing manpower for observations on a routine basis (a social solution)—the goal is to create a feedback loop between the infrastructure system and external conditions such as climate or cultural change.…”

Assessment of Rangeland Degradation in New Mexico Using Time Series Segmentation and Residual Trend Analysis (TSS-RESTREND)

“…Land degradation affects ecosystem productivity and threatens its capacity to sustain human, livestock, and wildlife population specially in dryland environments. Drylands that are susceptible to desertification occupy 39.7% (~5.2 billion ha) of the global terrestrial ecosystems (~13 billion ha) [1,2]. Of this, sever land degradation is prevalent in over 10-20% of the dryland ecosystems [1][2][3].…”