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Guidelines for sustainable management of degraded lands: Experiences on caatinga and semi-arid mediterranean woodlands

Abstract:

Land degradation and soil erosion are perceived as important and worldwide problems in dryland areas. In semi-arid climate conditions, interactions between vegetation, rainfall and soil properties have been related to the effectiveness in reducing the degredation processes. Landscape structure can be characterized by different woodlands based on the structure and physiognomy of the vegetation communities. From the perspective of water availability, the shortage of rainfall during summer is the main limitation for livestock development. Soil properties limitations are vital in order to the soil erosion and soil water availability. On the other hand, climate change, socio-economic changes and cultural evolution have been associated with the gradual loss of ecosystem productivity due to biophysical stress limiting the environmental and human sustainability. In Brazil, the semi-arid climate zone is located on the Northeastern of the country, an area of 845,000 km2 showing about of the 11% of the Brazil area. In the case of Spanish semi-arid area, woodlands tend to be shrublands because of the limited environmental conditions and the recent changes in land use. Brazil and Spanish semi-arid landscapes have some common characteristics. The socio-economic development of their societies have required aggressive practices such as land use change, land occupation, burning, deforestation and overgrazing. In semi-arid ecosystems, species are adapted to environmental and subsistence activities on a local level. In this paper, field experiences associated to Brazil and Spain woodlands are analyzed in order to find technical alternatives on the urgent need to semi-arid landscape conservation. © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.