Human activities as well as natural events can dramatically affect land degradation negatively or positively. In Egypt, agriculture is a key sector of the economy. Land reclamation seeks to transfer desert areas to agricultural land and support the construction of new villages. The agricultural productivity improvement of these Newlands is slow and requires considerable time due to their fragility and sensitivity to desertification.
In this paper, the role of subsurface drainage in irrigated agriculture in semi-arid and arid regions is discussed based on experiences obtained in Egypt, India and Pakistan. Agriculture in these countries is predominantly practiced by small, marginal farmers with landholdings of often less than one hectare. In general, they do not have the means to pay for the investments in irrigation and drainage themselves. Consequently, most irrigation and drainage projects are funded by the (local) governments.
Desert rangelands are characterised by low and highly variable rainfall regime, low forage production and high heterogeneity in the distribution of natural resources. This study was carried out in the desert rangelands of Tunisia to evaluate the response of different rangelands to annual rainfall in terms of aboveground net primary production (ANPP) and rain use efficiency over a 10‐year period (2003–2012). In general, ANPP values were relatively low (123 kg DM ha⁻¹ y⁻¹) but would tend to increase with increasing annual rainfall for all rangeland types.
We studied variations in the size of breeding colonies and in breeding performance of White Storks Ciconia ciconia in 2006–2008 in north-east Algeria. Each colony site was characterized using 12 environmental variables describing the physical environment, land-cover categories, and human activities, and by three demographic parameters: the number of breeding pairs, the number of pairs with chicks, and the number of fledged chicks per pair.
This study aims at establishing an approach for the analysis of urban growth dynamics to support urban planning decisions in Egypt. This approach is based on the UPlan model. It acknowledges the lack of historical land use detailed data in most of the Egyptian cities and is heavily based on socioeconomic and land use patterns collected from field surveys and census data. The model is tested on Wadi El Natrun city, an urban agglomeration located on the agricultural fringes of the Nile River. Several scenarios are generated based on changes in a set of attractors, discouragements, and masks.
The ESAs (Environmentally sensitive areas) procedure was recently developed in the framework of MEDALUS European project to identify desertification-sensitive areas and used in many Mediterranean countries (Greece, Portugal, Italy, Egypt). The identification of areas sensitive to desertification by using the ESAs model was carried out in the Tusciano River basin (261� km²) located in southern Italy (Campania region).
Since the 1930s there has been worldwide concern about the effects and impacts of land degradation. After the problems experienced in the Dust Bowl in the USA, much attention was paid to soil and water conservation in both developed and developing countries. Initially Governments stimulated the establishment of physical control measures, such as terraces, check dams and reforestation. This was achieved through top-down regulations, and Forestry Departments were often in charge of the implementation.
Waterlogged and salt-affected soils are serious environmental hazard indicators for wasteland problems in arid and semi-arid regions of the World. Similarly human activities in agricultural and urban sustainable developments have also led to the development of waterlogging and subsequent salinization of soils leading to many geo-environmental problems. Thus, it is important to be able to monitor, assess and map waterlogged and salt-affected areas at an early stage to develop an effective soil reclamation programme that helps to reduce and prevent a future increase in areas of wasteland.
Using the UNFCCC as a basis, and the objectives of estimating soil organic carbon (SOC) changes during the period 1900–2100, a spatially explicit database of climate, land cover and soil texture was compiled for a 262,000 km2 region in semi-arid Sudan. The area is characterized by low input cultivation of millet, sorghum and sesamé combined with livestock grazing. By integrating the database with the CENTURY ecosystem model, we were able to estimate historical, current and future pools of SOC as a function of land management and climate.
Remote sensing of vegetation by using active microwave sensors is important for the management of land and water resources. Microwave radiation at X-band penetrates only the upper part of the canopy; thus, radar backscattering comes mainly from the top vegetation layer, making the scattering from soil almost negligible. Fourteen in situ measurement campaigns were carried out during which sixteen SAR images of COSMO-SkyMed and TerraSAR-X were acquired on the test site of Merguellil Basin, in the centre of Tunisia, from March to May 2012.
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