Desert biological soil crusts (BSCs) are formed by adhesion of soil particles to polysaccharides excreted by filamentous cyanobacteria, the pioneers and main producers in this habitat. Biological soil crust destruction is a central factor leading to land degradation and desertification. We study the effect of BSC structure on cyanobacterial activity. Micro‐scale structural analysis using X‐ray microtomography revealed a vesiculated layer 1.5–2.5 mm beneath the surface in close proximity to the cyanobacterial location.

Based on remote sensing monitoring, observations and experiments in wind tunnel and field, aeolian processes and landscape change of the Sonid grassland of Inner Mongolia Plateau in northern China were explored in this paper. Aeolian process was very strong and seriously affected by human disturbances on the Sonid grassland of Inner Mongolia Plateau. Sand transport rate of grassland increased quickly with the increase of desertification severities, especially at the very severe desertification stage of sand sheet emergence.

Desertification is an escalating concern in global drylands, yet assessments to guide management and policy responses are limited by ambiguity concerning what this term means and what processes are involved. In order to provide greater clarity, we propose that desertification assessments be placed within a state change-land use change (SC-LUC) framework. SC-LUC views desertification as state change occurring within the context of particular land uses (such as rangeland or cropland) and interacting with land use change.

The traditional desertification paradigm focuses on the losses of ecosystem services that typically occur when grasslands transition to systems dominated by bare (unvegetated) ground or by woody plants that are unpalatable to domestic livestock. However, recent studies reveal complex transitions across a range of environmental conditions and socioeconomic contexts.

Pastoralism is an ancient form of self-provisioning that is still in wide use today throughout the world. While many pastoral regions are the focus of current desertification studies, the long history of sustainability evidenced by these cultures is of great interest. Numerous studies suggesting a general trend of desertification intimate degradation is a recent phenomenon principally attributable to changes in land tenure, management, and treatment.

In order to understand the genetic diversity of wild Ussurian pears in China, chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) of 186 wild accessions from 12 populations in Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces and 51 Chinese and European pear cultivars including Pyrus ussuriensis, Pyrus pyrifolia, Pyrus bretschneideri, Pyrus sinkiangensis and Pyrus communis were investigated. Each accession was classified into one of three types (types A, B and C) based on two large deletions in the hypervariable regions between the accD–psaI and rps16–trnQ genes.

Desertification has recognized as an environmental problem by many international organizations such as UN, NATO and FAO. Desertification in Turkey is generally caused by incorrect land use, excessive grazing, forest fires, urbanization, industry, genetic erosion, soil erosion, salinization, and uncontrolled wild type plants picking. Due to anthropogenic destruction of forest, steppe flora gradually became dominant in Anatolia. In terms of biodiversity, Turkey has a significant importance in Europe and Middle East.

SUMMARY The present study evaluates the vulnerability to soil degradation of four land-use classes (urban areas, cropland, forests and non-forest natural land) during 1960–2010 using the Environmental Sensitive Area Index (ESAI) to verify if forests mitigate the increase of desertification risk in Italy. Results indicate that forests was the class with the lowest level of vulnerability during the whole investigated period and with the growth rate (1960–2010) in the ESAI always below the one observed on a landscape scale.

Soils are a vital substrate for agricultural production, play a central role in regulating the global carbon budget, and are a valuable source of biodiversity. Yet estimates of the global area affected by soil and land degradation are continuing to increase. For decades, soil scientists have called for a legally binding, international policy framework to guide the sustainable use of soils, but a piecemeal legislative approach has prevailed instead. With over 200 international environmental agreements currently in force, there is political reluctance for another one.

Recent rapid changes in global scale drivers of desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) have two important consequences for drylands. First, changes in these drivers, for example in food and energy prices, make improving interventions in drylands more urgent because of their potential impacts. Second, these changes introduce new knowledge gaps regarding both the potential impacts on social‐ecological dryland systems and the design of options to take advantage of opportunities.

Watering is known to convert deserts into oases. However, information on how irrigation brings changes in physical and chemical properties of soils in a desert biome is not yet known, though pertinent to land use planning. This study reports influence of irrigation and cropping sequence on physico-chemical properties of soils in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India.