Soils in arid and semiarid regions: The past as key for the future

Lucke B, Bäumler R, Nikolskii I (2013)


Publication Language: English

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Authored book, Monography

Publication year: 2013

Publisher: Springer Netherlands

City/Town: Dordrecht

Pages Range: 269-284

ISBN: 9789400753310

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-5332-7_13

Abstract

Growing populations, increasing food demand, and technological advances may soon lead to intensifying land use in semiarid and arid countries through the spread of irrigated agriculture. Improved water harvesting and desalinization technology, coupled with higher efficiency of regenerative energies, might allow to widely extend irrigated areas. While this is a positive development in the light of growing demands for water and food, it presents challenges for land-use planners. Negative examples like Lake Aral make clear that a careful analysis is required before embarking on large-scale irrigation projects. Soils are central for assessing the impacts of irrigation in the desert. For longterm projects as outlined above, it is insufficient to consider only the present soil distribution. It should also be considered how soils will change under irrigation. In this context, the past is a key for the future, since the modeling of future soil development can be calibrated using reconstructions. Soil surveys which consider the archival role of soils and sediments can partly be used to understand the landscape history and identify risk areas. Paleosols can be evaluated as indicators how changes of moisture availability will affect soil properties and which time frames are involved. This can be coupled with modeling of future soil development. A major methodological challenge for this approach is the use of different parameters and time frames in reconstruction and modeling, which have to be “translated” using experimentally determined relationships. Long-term, large-scale irrigation in arid regions will mean a significant change of the environment and a departure from the conservative idea of sustainability, toward a concept which has been named “progressive development.“ Its success chances depend largely on our understanding and correct prediction of the consequences of man-made changes of the environment.

Authors with CRIS profile

How to cite

APA:

Lucke, B., Bäumler, R., & Nikolskii, I. (2013). Soils in arid and semiarid regions: The past as key for the future. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

MLA:

Lucke, Bernhard, Rupert Bäumler, and I. Nikolskii. Soils in arid and semiarid regions: The past as key for the future. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2013.

BibTeX: Download