Arid environments Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Guggul - an oleo-resin gum of immense medicinal value is tapped from a bushy shrub Commiphora wightii (Arnott) Bhandari distributed in semi-arid and rocky regions in Indian sub continent. C. wightii is an IUCN data deficient plant.... more

Guggul - an oleo-resin gum of immense medicinal value is tapped from a bushy shrub Commiphora wightii (Arnott) Bhandari distributed in semi-arid and rocky regions in Indian sub continent. C. wightii is an IUCN data deficient plant. Increase in the annual demand of guggul gum to the tune of 1000 metric ton, there is an increase in destructive tapping of C. wightii, which is a serious concern. Generally guggul gum from the site of its tapping to the site of processing or value addition being distantly far off, improper post harvest handling, storage and transport results in qualitative loss of its crucial bio-active compounds. Among the four containers (earthen clay pot, plastic jar, polythene bag and jute bag) evaluated for long term storage of guggul the earthen clay pot was the best in terms of Total Guggulsterone (TG) content. In earthen clay pot the TG of guggul gum was maintained over 1% for four months while Total Volatile Oils (TVO) 1% for nine months. In jute bag TG rapidly d...

Complementary analysis of satellite mission data (altimetry, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS)) and climate fields over 2000–2009 was conducted to investigate the variability of the water cover surfaces and the... more

Complementary analysis of satellite mission data (altimetry, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS)) and climate fields over 2000–2009 was conducted to investigate the variability of the water cover surfaces and the geographical source of water inflowing into the Lake Poopó system. The results suggest that over the time span of 2000–2009 a great part of the variability of the Poopó system originates from geographic sources other than Lake Titicaca. Possible alternative causes include climate change inducing increased temperatures and greater evaporation rates along the Altiplano; increased glacier and snow melting over the Andes Cordillera; and a potential increased anthropogenic water use (such as irrigation, minery, etc.) throughout the path of the Desaguadero River (which connects lakes Titicaca and Poopó). This change in the hydrology of this region could lead to a collapse of water supplies and endanger the already fragile Poopó system as well as the regional socioeconomic system, which closely depends upon it.

Lessons for Australia from Spain, which retains Europe’s oldest public landscaped space (748AD) and oldest surviving garden (c1250AD) and is rich in garden history. Waves of invasion, conversion to and mediation between cultures have... more

Lessons for Australia from Spain, which retains Europe’s oldest public landscaped space (748AD) and oldest surviving garden (c1250AD) and is rich in garden history. Waves of invasion, conversion to and mediation between cultures have fostered layered landscapes reflecting the adapting of old spaces and agri-/horticultural traditions, a place now unafraid of the new, yet fiercely proud of tradition. Recent designers and management trends will be discussed in the context of environmental sustainability, population demographics and increasing engagement with the outside world.

A critical step in designing effective conservation landscapes is the identification of relatively intact natural habitats. Satellite remote sensing has been effectively used to distinguish relatively intact and degraded forests at a... more

A critical step in designing effective conservation landscapes is the identification of relatively intact natural habitats. Satellite remote sensing has been effectively used to distinguish relatively intact and degraded forests at a number of scales. However, the utility of remote sensing data for rapid and cost-effective assessments of habitat intactness across large arid regions has not been adequately tested. To this end, we tested the ability of TM imagery to rapidly discriminate different levels of habitat degradation across large regions of the Chihuahuan Desert. We were able to identify relatively intact habitat in many cases. However, degraded habitat was often misidentified as relatively intact. The use of both mid- and late-season imagery provides some improvement by highlighting phenological differences among the intactness classes. Overall, low vegetation cover and inter- and intra-seasonal variability diminish the utility of TM imagery for large-scale conservation planning in the Chihuahuan Desert.

Page 1. Chapter 8 Structure of an Arid Tropical Bird Community, Rajasthan C. Sivaperuman, S. Dookia, PL Kankane, and QH Baqri Abstract The diversity and abundance of avifauna in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan were studied from May 2000 to May... more

Page 1. Chapter 8 Structure of an Arid Tropical Bird Community, Rajasthan C. Sivaperuman, S. Dookia, PL Kankane, and QH Baqri Abstract The diversity and abundance of avifauna in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan were studied from May 2000 to May 2003. ...

... Michael E. Loik a , ¶ , Travis E. Huxman c , b , Erik P. Hamerlynck d , b and Stanley D. Smith b. ... 19. ME Loik, CD St. Onge and J. Rodgers, Post-fire recruitment of Yucca brevifolia and Yucca schidigera in Joshua Tree National... more

... Michael E. Loik a , ¶ , Travis E. Huxman c , b , Erik P. Hamerlynck d , b and Stanley D. Smith b. ... 19. ME Loik, CD St. Onge and J. Rodgers, Post-fire recruitment of Yucca brevifolia and Yucca schidigera in Joshua Tree National Park, California. ...

The project aims to promote Integrated Catchment Management approaches in the Limpopo River Basin in three phases: 1) Situational assessment: develop a sound spatial understanding of the key ecohydrological areas of the basin; 2) Risk... more

The project aims to promote Integrated Catchment Management approaches in the Limpopo River Basin in three phases:

  1. Situational assessment: develop a sound spatial understanding of the key ecohydrological areas of the basin;
  2. Risk assessment: develop conservation interventions in the identified areas; and
  3. Develop mechanisms for implementing water stewardship schemes to mitigate the shared water risks identified in phase II. The situational assessment should enable De Beers to understand how Venetia Mine’s operations are located within a broader and dynamic socioeconomic and ecohydrological landscape as it pertains to water risks. Lessons learnt will offer useful insights for the development of specific interventions in the areas surrounding their mine operations and for other countries where De Beers operates.

... in Botswana are exported to South Africa where they are packaged and retailed or processed into livestock feed (Allotey and Mpuchane ... Zinzombe and George (1994) analysed Mophane worms for fatty acids and found that unsaturated... more

... in Botswana are exported to South Africa where they are packaged and retailed or processed into livestock feed (Allotey and Mpuchane ... Zinzombe and George (1994) analysed Mophane worms for fatty acids and found that unsaturated fatty acids, oleic, linoleic and linolenic ...

The spreading influence of salinity stress on the farmlands of coastal strip in the Wilayat of Sur, Sharqiyah region was investigated. A 4-km study transect was chosen from 2 km from the coast to 6 km inland and three zones based on farm... more

The spreading influence of salinity stress on the farmlands of coastal strip in the Wilayat of Sur, Sharqiyah region was investigated. A 4-km study transect was chosen from 2 km from the coast to 6 km inland and three zones based on farm conditions were demarcated. Within each zone three farms were randomly chosen and a total of nine farm wells were studied. Irrigation water quality clearly indicated that Zones 1, 2 and 3 could be classified as high, intermediate and low salinity zones. The improvement of water quality from high to low salinity zones was progressive and statistically significant. Seawater intrusion appears to be the cause of degradation in water quality. Irrigation water quality of high and intermediate zones was unacceptable by international standards. Expansion of farms, increased water extraction and a recharge dam upstream are all considered as factors promoting salinization. Management strategies for combating salinization are discussed. The invertebrate assemblages of the study wells have been described and the potential of some sensitive species for use as indicators of salinity stress is revealed. However, practical difficulties warrant the continued use of chemical methods to monitor salinity changes.

Outputs from hydrological studies are dependent on rainfall data that is controlled by the limited spatial distribution of stations, interrupted time series of data, variable rainfall among locations in the area under consideration.... more

Outputs from hydrological studies are dependent on rainfall data that is controlled by the limited spatial distribution of stations, interrupted time series of data, variable rainfall among locations in the area under consideration. Therefore, it is essential to fill the missing records using different methods. This study aims to infill the missing rainfall data for an arid area located in north Jordan using the inverse distance weighted (IDW) and the expectation maximization (EM). Different statistical tests were used to assess the accuracy of both methods. Results showed that EM method results were highly correlated with the raw data, and show a perfect similarity result with a root mean square error (RSME) of less than 11 mm. Estimates were better for the station of Mafraq than for the two other stations used in the study. This was attributed to the low percent (2.8%) of missing data for this station. The reason behind the differences in accuracy of estimates were attributed to t...

Abstract: A physically-based model namely the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used on the Roodan watershed in southern part of Iran; the watershed has an area of 10570 km 2 . The main objectives were to simulate monthly discharge... more

Abstract: A physically-based model namely the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used on the Roodan watershed in southern part of Iran; the watershed has an area of 10570 km 2 . The main objectives were to simulate monthly discharge and evaluate the base and peak flows separately. Required parameters to run the model were meteorological data, soil type, land use, management practices and topography maps at watershed scale. To find the sensitive parameters, an initial sensitivity analysis was performed using the Latin Hypercube sampling One-at-ATime (LH-OAT) method embedded in the SWAT model. Then, the model was calibrated and validated for stream flow using the SWAT-CUP program. Generally, the model was assessed using the modified coefficient of determination (bR 2 ), Nash-Sutcliffe (NS) and PBIAS. Values of bR 2 and NS were 0.93 and 0.92 for calibration respectively and 0.69 and 0.83, respectively, for validation. For calibration and validation, PBIAS were obtained at 23 and 5%,...