382 DESERTIFICATION

for denitrification during field quantification and Hochstein LI and Tomlinson GA (1988) Enzymes associ-
the importance of nitrifier denitrification processes ated with denitrification. Annual Review of Microbiol-
are crucial areas of research that need to be under- ogy 42: 231–261.
stood before management of gaseous N loss can be Laughlin RJ and Stevens RJ (2002) Evidence for fungal
dominance of denitrification and codenitrification in a
achieved.
grassland soil. Soil Science Society of America Journal
66: 1540–1548.
See also: Fertilizers and Fertilization; Greenhouse Parkin TB (1990) Characterizing the variability of soil de-
Gas Emissions; Microbial Processes: Kinetics; Nitro- nitrification. FEMS Symposium of the Federal European
gen in Soils: Cycle; Nitrification; Organic Matter: Microbiological Society 56: 213–228.
Principles and Processes; Organic Residues, Decom- Parkin TB and Meisinger JJ (1989) Denitrification below
position the crop rooting zone as influenced by surface tillage.
Journal of Environmental Quality 18: 12–16.
Poth M and Focht DD (1986) 15N kinetic analysis of
Further Reading
N2O production by Nitrosomonas europaea: an exam-
Arah JRM (1997) Apportioning nitrous oxide fluxes be- ination of nitrifier denitrification. Applied and Environ-
tween nitrification and denitrification using gas phase mental Microbiology 49: 1134–1141.
mass spectrometry. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 29: Tiedje JM (1982) Denitrification. In: Page AL, Miller
1295–1299. RH, and Keeney DR (eds) Methods of Soil Analysis,
Firestone MK (1982) Biological denitrification. In: Steven- part 2, Chemical and Microbiological Properties,
son FJ (ed.) Nitrogen in Agricultural Soils, pp. 289–326. 2nd edn, pp. 1011–1026. Madison, WI: American Soci-
Agronomy Monograph no. 22, Madison, WI: American ety of Agronomy.
Society of Agronomy. Wrage N, Velthof GL, van Beusichem ML, and Oenema O
Focht DD (1982) Denitrification. In: Burns RG and Slater (2001) Role of nitrifier denitrification in the production
JH (eds) Experimental Microbial Ecology, pp. 194–211. of nitrous oxide. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 33:
Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. 1723–1732.

DESERTIFICATION
D Hillel, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA potential biological and agricultural productivity of
C Rosenzweig, NASA Goddard Institute for Space ecosystems in semiarid and arid regions. It is an emo-
Studies, New York, NY, USA tive term, conjuring up the specter of a tide of sand
ß 2005, Elsevier Ltd. All Rights Reserved. swallowing fertile farmland and pastures. Apparently
with this somewhat simplistic image in mind, UNEP
sponsored projects in the early 1980s to plant trees
Introduction
along the edge of the Sahara, with the aim of warding
Ecosystems in semiarid and arid regions around the off the invading sands. While there are places where
world appear to be undergoing various processes of the edge of the desert can be seen encroaching on
degradation commonly described as ‘desertification.’ fertile land, the more pressing problem is the deterio-
According to the United Nations Environmental Pro- ration of the land due to human abuse in regions well
gram (UNEP), all regions in which the ratio of total outside the desert. The latter problem emanates not
annual precipitation to potential evapotranspiration from the expansion of the desert per se but from
(P/ET) ranges from 0.05 to 0.65 should be considered the centers of population outside the desert, owing
vulnerable to desertification. Such regions constitute to human mismanagement of the land. A vicious
some 40% of the global terrestrial area. They include cycle has begun in many areas: as the land degrades
northern Africa, southwestern Africa, southwestern through misuse, it is worked or grazed ever more
Asia, central Asia, northwestern India and Pakistan, intensively, so its degradation is exacerbated; and
southwestern USA and Mexico, western South as the returns from ‘old’ land diminish, ‘new’ land
America, and much of Australia, and are home to an is brought under cultivation or under grazing in
estimated sixth of the world’s population. marginal or even submarginal areas.
‘Desertification’ is a single word used to cover As defined in recent dictionaries, desertification is the
a wide variety of interactive phenomena – both process by which an area becomes (or is made to
natural and anthropogenic – affecting the actual and become) desert-like. The word ‘desert’ itself is derived
 DESERTIFICATION 383

from the Latin desertus, being the past participle of agroecosystem is not necessarily destructive if the latter
deserere, meaning ‘to desert,’ ‘to abandon.’ The clear is managed sustainably and productively, and if it coex-
implication is that a desert is an area too barren and ists harmoniously alongside natural ecosystems that
desolate to support human life. An area that was not continue to maintain biodiversity and to perform vital
originally desert (e.g., a steppe or savanna) may come to ecologic functions. In too many cases, however, the
resemble a desert if it loses so much of its usable resources requirements of sustainability fail, especially where agri-
that it can no longer provide adequate subsistence to a cultural systems expand progressively at the expense of
given number of humans. This is a very qualitative def- the remaining, more-or-less natural ecosystems. The
inition, since not all deserts are the same. An area’s appropriation of ever-greater sections of the remaining
resemblance to a desert does not make it a permanent native habitats, impelled by the increase in population as
desert if it can recover from its damaged state, and, in well as by the deterioration of farmland or rangeland
any case, the modes of human subsistence and levels of due to overcultivation or overgrazing, decimates those
consumption differ greatly from place to place. habitats and imperils their ecologic functions. In the
In recent decades, the very term ‘desertification’ initial stages of degradation, the deteriorating product-
has been called into question as being too vague, ivity of an agroecosystem can be masked by increasing
and the processes it purports to describe too ill-de- the inputs of fertilizers, pesticides, water, and tillage.
fined. Some critics have even suggested abandoning Sooner or later, however, if such destructive effects as
the term, in favor of what they consider to be a more organic matter loss, erosion, leaching of nutrients, and
precisely definable term, namely ‘land degradation.’ salination continue, the degradation is likely to reach a
However, ‘desertification’ has already entered into point at which its effects are difficult to overcome
such common usage that it can no longer be revoked either ecologically or economically.
or ignored. It must therefore be clarified and qualified Key processes related to desertification include
so that its usage is less ambiguous. drought, primary production and carrying capacity,
‘Land degradation’ itself is a vague term, since the soil degradation, and use of water resources. The role
land may be degraded with respect to one function of social factors is also important.
and not necessarily with respect to another. For
example, a tract of land may continue to function
The Role of Drought
hydrologically – to regulate infiltration, runoff gener-
ation, and groundwater recharge – even if its vegetative A typical feature of arid regions is that the mode (the
cover is changed artificially from a natural species- most probable) amount of annual rainfall is generally
diverse community to a monoculture and its other less than the mean; i.e., there tend to be more years
ecologic functions are interrupted. Perhaps better with below-average rainfall than years in which the
than ‘land degradation’ is the term ‘semiarid ecosystem rainfall is above average, simply because a few un-
degradation.’ A semiarid ecosystem encompasses the usually rainy years can skew the statistical mean well
diverse biotic community sharing the domain. Included above realistic expectations for rainfall in most years.
in this community is the host of plants, animals, and The variability in biologically effective rainfall is yet
microorganisms that interact with one another through more pronounced, as years with less rain are usually
such modes as competition or symbiosis, predation, characterized by greater evaporative demand, so the
and parasitism. It also includes the complex physical moisture deficit is greater than that indicated by the
and chemical factors that condition the lives of those reduction of rainfall alone. Timing and distribution
organisms and are in turn influenced by them. Each of rainfall also play crucial roles. Below-average
ecosystem performs a multiplicity of ecologic func- rainfall, if well distributed, may produce adequate
tions. Included among these are photosynthesis, ab- crop yields, whereas average or even above-average
sorption of atmospheric carbon and its incorporation rainfall may fail to produce adequate yields if the rain
into biomass and the soil, emission of oxygen, and occurs in just a few ill-timed storms with long dry
regulation of temperature and the water cycle, as well periods between them.
as the decomposition of waste products and their trans- In semiarid agricultural regions, ‘drought,’ like
mutation into nutrients for the perpetuation of diverse, desertification, is a broad, somewhat subjective term
interdependent forms of life. that designates years in which cultivation becomes an
A semiarid ecosystem may be more or less natural, unproductive activity, crops fail, and the productivity
relatively undisturbed by humans, or it may be artifi- of pastures is significantly diminished. Drought is
cially managed, such as an agroecosystem. An agro- a constant menace, a fact of life with which rural
ecosystem is a part of the landscape that is managed dwellers in arid regions must cope if they are to survive.
for the economic purpose of agricultural production. The occurrence of drought is a certainty, sooner or
The transformation of a natural ecosystem into an later; only its timing, duration, and severity are ever
384 DESERTIFICATION

in doubt. And it is during a drought that ecosystem its own explanation as to why the drought in the
degradation in the form of denudation and soil erosion African Sahel, for example, has tended to persist.
occur at an accelerated pace, as people try to survive in
a parched habitat by cutting the trees for fuel and
Primary Production and Carrying Capacity
browse, and by animals overgrazing the wilted grass.
The topsoil, laid bare and pulverized by tillage or the The biological productivity of any ecosystem is due to
trampling of animals, is then exposed to a greatly its primary producers (known as autotrophs), which
increased risk of wind erosion. When the coveted are the green plants growing in it. They alone are able
rains recur, they tend to scour the erodible soil. to create living matter from inorganic materials. They
Any management system that ignores the eventual- do so by combining atmospheric carbon dioxide with
ity of drought and fails to provide for it ahead of time soil-derived water, thus converting radiant energy
is doomed to fail in the long run. That provision may from the sun into chemical energy in the process of
take the form of grain or feed storage (as in the photosynthesis. Green plants also respire, which is
biblical story of Joseph in Egypt), or of pasture tracts the reverse of photosynthesis, and in so doing they
kept in reserve for grazing when the regular pasture is utilize part of the energy to power their own growth.
played out, or of the controlled migration of pasto- The net primary production then becomes available
ralists to other regions able to accommodate them for for the myriad of heterotrophs, which subsist by
the period of the drought. consuming (directly or indirectly) the products of
A much-debated question is whether the frequency, photosynthesis. A stable ecosystem is one in which
duration, and severity of droughts have been increas- production and consumption, synthesis and decom-
ing in recent decades. One possibility is that the position, are in balance over an extended period of
process of desertification, once begun, produces a time.
feedback effect that is self-exacerbating. Some have When humans enter into an ecosystem and appro-
hypothesized that the increase in atmospheric dust priate some of its products for themselves, they do so
from denuded and wind-eroded drylands (the so- in competition with other potential consumers. As
called dust-bowl effect), as well as from air pollution populations increase, the tendency is to intensify the
(as denudation of an area’s vegetation is associated use of resources by promoting the production of de-
with biomass burning, which releases smoke into sired goods while suppressing the species that do not
the air), may have changed the patterns of air mass serve that end. In the process, the ecosystem’s bio-
movement and hence of precipitation. Another hy- diversity and natural productivity are profoundly
pothesis is that droughts can be worsened by the affected. Especially affected are areas within the semi-
increased reflectivity of the bared surface to incoming arid and arid regions, which, because of the paucity of
sunlight. That reflectivity, called ‘albedo,’ may rise water and the fragility of the soil (typically deficient
from approximately 20% for a well-vegetated area in organic matter, structurally unstable, and highly
to perhaps 35% or more for an exposed, bright, erodible) are most vulnerable and least resilient.
sandy soil. As a larger proportion of the incoming The term ‘carrying capacity’ has been used to char-
sunlight is reflected skyward rather than absorbed, acterize an area’s productivity in terms of the number
the surface becomes cooler than it would be other- of people or grazing animals it can support per unit
wise, and so the air in contact with the surface has less area on a sustainable basis. However, the productive
of a tendency to rise and condense its moisture so as yield obtainable from an area depends on how the
to yield rainfall. area is being used. Under the hunter-gatherer mode of
An additional effect of denudation is to decrease subsistence, an area may be able to carry only, for
the interception of rainfall by vegetation and the infil- example, 1 person per square kilometer, whereas
tration rate, while increasing surface runoff, thereby under shifting cultivation it may carry 10, and under
reducing the amount of soil moisture available for intensive agriculture perhaps 100. The intensive forms
evapotranspiration. Crops and grasses, which have of utilization also involve inputs of capital, energy, and
shallower roots than trees and in any case transpire materials, such as fertilizers and pesticides, which are
less than the natural mixed vegetation of the savanna, brought in from the outside to enhance an area’s pro-
transpire even less when deprived of moisture during ductivity. As the usable productivity is strongly affected
a drought. The ‘biophysical feedback’ hypothesis is by the supply of water (i.e., by seasonal rainfall), it
that such changes may reduce regional precipitation. varies from year to year and from decade to decade,
Lower rainfall leads in turn to more overgrazing so a long-term average is difficult to determine, espe-
and less regrowth of biomass, and to further reduc- cially given the prospect of climate change. It is there-
tion in reevaporated rain owing to the decline in fore doubtful if any given area can be assigned
soil moisture. Thus, the feedback hypothesis offers an intrinsic and objectively quantifiable carrying
 DESERTIFICATION 385

capacity. By whatever measure, however, the capacity Potentialities and Problems of Irrigation
of an area to support a given population is clearly
Where fresh water resources (from riverine or under-
diminished by human mismanagement.
ground sources) are available and can be utilized
Wherever human pressure on the land ceases or is
economically, irrigation can be an effective way to
diminished, even a severely eroded soil may recover
intensify and stabilize production in semiarid or arid
gradually. However, on the time-scale of years to a
regions, and thus to relieve the pressure on extensive
few decades, especially if overgrazing and overculti-
areas of rain-fed land that are most vulnerable to
vation continue, soil erosion may become, in effect,
degradation. Irrigation is the deliberate supply of
irreversible.
water to agricultural crops, designed to permit farming
in arid regions and to offset drought in semiarid
Soil Degradation and Rehabilitation regions. Even in areas where total seasonal rainfall is
An important criterion of soil degradation is the loss adequate on average, it may be poorly distributed
of soil organic matter. Compared with soils in more during the year and variable from year to year.
humid regions, those in warm arid regions tend to be Wherever traditional rain-fed farming is a high-risk
inherently poor in organic matter from the outset, enterprise owing to scarce or uncertain precipitation,
owing to the relatively sparse natural vegetative irrigation can help to ensure stable production. It not
cover and to the rapid rate of decomposition. The only raises the yields of specific crops but also pro-
organic matter present is, however, vitally important longs the effective crop-growing period in areas with
to soil productivity. Plant residues over the surface dry seasons, thus permitting multiple cropping (two,
protect the soil from the direct impact of raindrops three, or even four crops per year) where only a single
and from deflation by wind, and help to conserve crop could be grown otherwise. With the security
soil moisture by minimizing evaporation. Plant and provided by irrigation, additional inputs needed to
animal residues that are partially decomposed and intensify production further (pest control, fertilizers,
that are naturally incorporated into the topsoil help improved varieties, etc.) become economically feasi-
to stabilize its structural aggregates, which in turn ble. Irrigation reduces the risk of these expensive
enhance infiltrability, reduce water loss by runoff, inputs being wasted by crop failure resulting from
and enable seed germination and root growth. The lack of water. Although irrigated land amounts to
organic matter present also contributes to soil fertility only some 17% of the world’s total cropland, it
by the gradual release of nutrients. contributes well over 30% of the total agricultural
When the natural vegetative cover is removed, and production. That vital contribution is most important
especially when the soil is tilled and/or trampled re- in arid regions, where the supply of water by rainfall
peatedly, there follows a rapid process of organic is least, even as the demand for water imposed by the
matter decomposition and depletion. Accelerated bright sun and the dry air is greatest.
erosion also removes the layer of topsoil that is richest Irrigation, however, is not without its own prob-
in organic matter. Consequently, the destabilized soil lems. From its inception in the Fertile Crescent some
tends to form a surface crust that further inhibits infil- six or more millennia ago, irrigated agriculture, espe-
tration. Water losses by both runoff and evaporation cially in poorly drained river valleys, has brought
increase, and the soil loses an important source of nu- about processes of degradation that have threatened
trients. These destructive processes can be countered or its sustainability. The application of water to the land
ameliorated by methods of conservation management, tends to raise the water table, which in turn induces
including minimum or zero tillage, maintenance of the self-destructive twin scourges of waterlogging and
crop residues, the periodic inclusion of green manures salination.
in the crop rotation, and agroforestry. Some investigators include the degradation of irri-
The destructive processes induced by soil misman- gated lands in the category of desertification. Though
agement, and, in contrast, the constructive processes the processes taking place differ fundamentally from
induced by conservation management, though seem- those in rain-fed lands, the damage done to injudi-
ingly local, may have – when practiced on a regional ciously irrigated lands is indeed in the category of
scale – an impact on climate charge. Soils subject to ecosystem degradation. Processes occurring off-site
accelerated decomposition of organic matter tend to (upstream as well as downstream of the irrigated
release carbon dioxide and thus contribute to the en- area) strongly affect the sustainability of irrigation.
hanced greenhouse effect. Conversely, soils that are For example, denudation of upland watersheds by
being revegetated and enriched with organic matter forest clearing, cultivation, and overgrazing induces
can absorb and sequester quantities of carbon that erosion and the subsequent silting of reservoirs
are extracted from the atmosphere in photosynthesis. and canals, thereby reducing the water supply. The
386 DESERTIFICATION

construction of reservoirs often causes the submer- Sahel have shown that, contrary to many alarmist
gence of natural habitats as well as of valuable scenic reportings, there has been no progressive change of
and cultural sites. Concurrently, the downstream dis- the Saharan desert boundary. Rather, there has been a
posal of drainage from irrigated land tends to pollute back-and-forth shifting of vegetative density during
aquifers, streams, estuaries, and lakes with salts, nu- alternating spells (sometimes lasting several years) of
trients, and pesticide residues. Finally, the irrigation below-average and of above-average rainfall. In
system itself (its reservoirs, canals, and fields) may principle, however, statistical criteria designed to test
harbor and spread water-borne diseases, thus endan- the probability levels of differences (between sites or
gering public health. Thus the very future of irrigated between successive measurements on the same site)
agriculture has been called into question. should not be used to ‘prove’ the opposite, namely
Experience shows that irrigation can be sustained, that there are no differences. Measurements made at
but at a cost. The primary cost is the necessary in- various times on large areas may obscure subtle local
vestment in systems of efficient irrigation (avoiding changes that could have taken place on a smaller scale.
excessive application of water such as causes water- One of the main indexes in use at present is the
table rise, waterlogging, and salination), as well as in so-called normalized difference vegetation index
the timely provision of effective land drainage and the (NDVI). It is obtained from the ratio between the
safe disposal of its salt-laden effluent. red and near-red infrared reflectance bands, obtained
from high-resolution radiometer data generated by
the polar-orbiting satellite of the US National Oce-
Social Factors
anic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In
Social factors are necessarily involved in both semi- arid and semiarid regions, NDVI evidently correlates
arid ecosystem conservation and its inverse, which is with the density of the vegetative cover and its bio-
ecosystem degradation. Farmers who do not have mass, as well as with its ‘leaf area index’ (LAI) and its
tenure to the land are not likely to invest in its conser- photosynthetic activity. Care is needed, however, in
vation or improvement. Neither are communities that applying NDVI to the assessment of net primary pro-
lack stable institutional structure likely to establish duction, since the measurement of NDVI is oblivious
and maintain essential infrastructure and services that to the amount of vegetation harvested by humans and
enable, encourage, and coordinate farmers’ efforts by their animals prior to the time of the measurement.
to implement land improvement and conservation Taken to be a general indicator of the ‘greenness’ of
measures. And no effective action at all may be pos- an area, NDVI has also been conjectured to correlate
sible in the absence of a proactive governmental with biological productivity, but that correlation may
policy, including the provision of credit or subsidies, not necessarily hold. In principle, the amount of vege-
professional guidance and training, as well as tation present per unit area should depend on the
the preparation and implementation of national and amount produced in situ minus the amount removed
regional drought contingency plans for both farmers from it. Therefore, the relation between an area’s
and herders. The conservation of soil, water, and biotic productivity and its vegetative biomass at any time
resources is a collective societal concern, and an inter- must depend on whether the vegetation has been or is
generational one, not merely a private concern of the being ‘harvested’ (grazed by livestock or cut and
people utilizing the land directly at any particular time. carried away by humans). An area could be quite
Finally, there looms the most difficult, yet inescap- productive, yet relatively bare, if it had been har-
able, problem of population numbers. No system of vested just prior to the NDVI measurement. Even if
management, however efficient it may be, can be there is no discernible change in the density of an
sustained if the population continues to grow without area’s overall vegetative cover, there might well be
limit. A crucial aspect of population control is the a considerable change in the composition of the vege-
empowerment of women, through education and tation (i.e., its biodiversity, ecologic function, and
equal rights, as full participants in the management feed value). For example, an overgrazed area may
of their societies’ physical, biological, and human exhibit a proliferation of less nutritious plants at the
resources. The issue is extremely sensitive inasmuch same time that it loses the most palatable species of
as it carries cultural and traditional, as well as social grasses and legumes that had contributed to the area’s
and economic, implications. original carrying capacity.
Clearly, the most decisive factor affecting the over-
all density of vegetative cover in an arid region is the
Monitoring Desertification
fluctuation of rainfall amounts. Taking the African
The techniques of remote sensing have made possible Sahel as an example once again, we see that the
the monitoring of changes to ecosystems on a regional annual precipitation has fluctuated widely over the
scale. Studies based on remote sensing of the African decades. The amounts (as seen in Figure 1) for the last
 DESERTIFICATION 387

three decades of the twentieth century appear to be and droughts, to the effect of worsening land degrad-
generally lower than those in the preceding decades. ation and periods of severe food shortages. Especially
Although an analysis based on any particular short vulnerable is the continent of Africa, where the issues
period may be misleading, the question does arise as of greatest concern pertain to human health and
to the possible effects of global climate change. food security, water resources, natural ecosystems
and biodiversity, and, not least, land degradation or
desertification (Table 1).
The Role of Climate Change
Climate change appears likely to cause further
Ecosystems in arid and semiarid regions are likely to semiarid ecosystem degradation through alteration
be increasingly influenced by global climate change. of spatial and temporal patterns in temperature, rain-
Emissions of radiatively active gases and aerosols due fall, solar insolation, winds, and humidity. Analyses
to human activity are altering the Earth’s radiation based on global and regional climate models suggest
balance and hence the temperature of the lower at- that droughts may become more frequent, severe, and
mosphere. One of the manifestations of the change prolonged. It is still impossible, however, to ascribe
may be an increase in climate instability. In a warmer exact probabilities to any of the various climate
world, climatic phenomena are likely to intensify. change scenarios, owing to uncertainties regarding
Thus, episodes or seasons of anomalously wet condi- future emissions of the radiatively active trace gases
tions (violent rainstorms of great erosive power) may and tropospheric aerosols, and the potential responses
alternate with severe droughts, in an irregular and of the climate system to those changes.
unpredictable pattern. The question is sometimes posed: is it human exploit-
A more unstable climatic regime will make it ation of the land or is it overall climate change that
harder to devise and more expensive to implement constitutes the predominant cause of desertification?
optimal land use and agricultural production prac- The answer is that the two sets of factors or processes
tices, including drought-contingency provisions. Fail- interact and may well have become mutually reinfor-
ure to prepare for such contingencies may exacerbate cing. Ultimately, both are impelled by human interven-
the consequences of extreme events such as floods tion and therefore can only be redressed by coordinated
actions at the local, regional, and global levels.

Overview
The pressures generated by growing populations, in-
tensified land use, and overall environmental change
are evidently causing a progressive degradation of nat-
ural and managed ecosystems, especially in arid and
Figure 1 Rainfall fluctuations in the African Sahel during the semiarid regions. To define and quantify the nature,
period 1901–1998, expressed as a regionally averaged standard degree, and extent of the degradation, national and
deviation, SD (departure from the long-term mean divided by the international agencies are working to implement con-
standard deviation). Reproduced from Densanker P and Magadza C
(2001). Africa in climate change 2001: impacts, adaptation and
sistent monitoring programs. These consist not only of
vulnerability. In: McCarthy JJ, Canzania OF, Leary NA, Dokker remote sensing from above but also of ground-based
DD, and White KS (eds) International Panel of Climate Change. observations.

Table 1 Sectors vulnerable to climate change in Africa

Sector Projected impacts

Water resources Dominant impact is predicted to be a reduction in soil moisture in the subhumid zones and a
reduction in runoff
Food security There is wide consensus that climate change, through increased extremes, will worsen food
security in Africa
Natural resources and Climate change is projected to exacerbate risks to already threatened plant and animal species,
biodiversity and fuelwood
Human health Vector-borne and water-borne diseases are likely to increase, especially in areas with inadequate
health infrastructure
Desertification Changes in rainfall, increased evaporation, and intensified land use may put additional stresses on
arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid ecosystems

Reproduced from Densanker P and Magadza C (2001) Africa in climate change 2001: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. In: McCarthy JJ, Canzania OF,
Leary NA, Dokker DD, and White KS (eds) International Panel of Climate Change.
388 DESERTIFICATION

Figure 2 Upward and downward spirals of sustainable versus unsustainable patterns of management in rain-fed and irrigated
agriculture in arid regions. Reproduced with permission from Hillel D and Rosenzweig C (2002) Desertification in relation to climate
variability and change. Advances in Agronomy 77: 1–38.

To redress or rehabilitate degraded ecosystems, may lead to a downward spiral of ecosystem de-
vulnerable countries are beginning to institute ap- gradation, whereas appropriate measures of conser-
propriate policies and programs. These include keep- vation and sustainable use hold the promise of
ing reserve areas to protect biodiversity, avoiding sustainable development in the context of both
overgrazing on managed lands, reseeding of pastures, rain-fed and irrigated agriculture (Figure 2).
implementing soil and water conservation measures,
and – in the social arena – land tenure, family plan- See also: Degradation; Erosion: Water-Induced; Wind-
ning, and contingencies for droughts. Determining the Induced
availability of fresh water resources (surface water,
renewable groundwater, and, in some cases, nonre-
newable groundwater as well) and planning their Further Reading
careful utilization are important components of such Bouwman AF (ed.) (1992) Soil and the Greenhouse Effect.
programs. Inappropriate patterns of management Chichester, UK: John Wiley.
 DIFFUSION 389

Charney JG (1975) Dynamics of deserts and drought in Le Houreou HN (1977) Biological recovery versus deserti-
the Sahel. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Society 101: zation. Economic Geography 63: 413–420.
193–202. Mainguet M (1994) Desertification: Natural Background
Dregne HE (1994) Land degradation in the world’s arid and Human Mismanagement. Berlin, Germany:
zones. In: Baker RS, Gee GW, and Rosenzweig C (eds) Springer-Verlag.
Soil and Water: Keys to Understanding Our Global En- McCarthy JJ, Canziani OF, Leary NA, Dokken DJ, and White
vironment. SSSA Special Publication No. 41. Madison, KS (eds) (2001) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
WI: Soil Science Society of America. Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Glantz MH and Orlovsky N (1983) Desertification: a Nicholson S (2000) Land surface processes and Sahel
review of the concept. Desert Control Bulletin 9: 15–22. climate. Reviews of Geophysics 38: 117–139.
Hillel D and Rosenzweig C (2000) Desertification in rela- Rind D, Rosenzweig C, and Peteet D (1989) African
tion to climate variability and change. Advances in drought: history, possible causes, prognosis. In: Lemma
Agronomy 27: 1–38. A and Malaska P (eds) Africa Beyond Famine. London,
Justice CD (ed.) (1986) Monitoring the Grassland of UK: Tycooly.
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UK: Taylor & Francis. sion and contraction of the Sahara desert from 1980 to
Lal R (2001) Potential of desertification control to seques- 1990. Science 253: 299–301.
ter carabon and mitigate the greenhouse effect. Climatic UNEP (1992) World Atlas of Desertification. Seven Oaks,
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DIFFUSION
T M Addiscott, Rothamsted Research, can readily watch this happening by placing a crystal
Harpenden, UK of potassium permanganate at the bottom of a beaker
P Leeds-Harrison, Cranfield University, Silsoe, of water. There is a gradient of chemical potential
Bedford, UK between the solution adjacent to the crystal and
ß 2005, Elsevier Ltd. All Rights Reserved. the rest of the water, and the rich purple color of the
permanganate gradually spreads out into the water.
This process, which is essentially the same for gases
Introduction
and solutes, is diffusion, which involves gases that
In soil science the diffusion of gases and solutes needs diffuse in the soil atmosphere, that is, within other
to be understood. A gas in a closed vessel distributes gases, and solutes that diffuse in the soil solution,
itself such that its pressure is the same at all points. often interacting with soil solids. Although diffusion
If there is a mixture of gases, each exerts its own in solution is caused in principle by gradients in chem-
‘partial pressure’ and distributes itself such that its ical potential, the topic is usually treated in terms of
partial pressure is the same throughout the vessel. If the concentration.
you change the partial pressure of one gas in any part
of the vessel there will be a gradient in its partial
How Diffusion Occurs
pressure, and the resulting flow of that gas within
the other gases will tend to equalize its partial pres- Diffusion occurs because of Brownian motion, the
sure throughout the volume. A solute in a solution random movement of ions or molecules in a state of
behaves in several ways like a gas in a closed vessel. thermal motion. Although the molecules move ran-
It has a chemical potential, which depends on its domly, the probability is that gas molecules will move
concentration and is conceptually related to the par- from high-pressure to low-pressure zones, and solute
tial pressure of a gas through the thermodynamic molecules from zones of high concentration to zones of
concept of free energy. The solute distributes itself lower concentration in a solution. Because gradients
so that its concentration and chemical potential are in partial pressure and concentration are gradually
the same throughout the solution, as a gas does with lessened by diffusion but never eliminated, partial
its partial pressure in a closed vessel. Changing the pressures and concentrations of solute become uni-
concentration in any part of the solution leads to a form only at infinite time (although in practice many
gradient in chemical potential which causes a flow diffusive flows become too small to measure after a
of solute that tends to equalize the concentration. You relatively short time). This is why many diffusion