BACKGROUND There have been few studies on the sustainable use of non-timber forest products in arid and semi-arid zones. The palm Brahea dulcis has been one of the most important resources in semi-arid Mesoamerica, since pre-Hispanic times. Currently, some populations grow within protected natural areas, representing both a challenge and an opportunity for local development. This ethnoecologica...

The inter-comparison of different soil moisture (SM) products over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) reveals the inconsistency among different SM products, when compared to in situ measurement. It highlights the need to constrain the model simulated SM with the in situ measured data climatology. In this study, the in situ soil moisture networks, combined with the classification of climate zones over the...

To demonstrate the capabilities of Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques and numerical modeling for groundwater resources development in arid areas, specifically for the demarcation of suitable sites for the artificial recharge of groundwater aquifers, a study was carried out in the Maknassy basin, which is located in Central Tunisia. Thematic maps were prepared using a Hydrogeological...

Abstract Concepts like the 100-year flood event can be misleading if they are not updated to reflect significant changes over time. Here, we model observed annual maximum daily streamflow using a nonstationary approach provide first global picture of in: (a) magnitudes 20-, 50-, and floods (i.e., flows given exceedance probability in each year); (b) return periods floods, as assessed 1970 fixed...

Despite the fact that gross primary productivity (GPP) and water use efficiency (WUE) have been widely used as indicators to evaluate water-carbon cycle, uncertainties exist in patterns of GPP WUE responses climate variability along different aridity gradients. In this study, index was divide China into four arid-humid zones. The spatiotemporal multiple vegetation types response change under zo...

In arid and semi-arid regions, pioneer organisms form complex communities that penetrate the upper millimetres of the bare substrate, creating biological soil crusts (BSC). These thin crusts play a vital role in whole ecosystem functioning because they enrich bare surfaces with organic matter, initiate biogeochemical cycling of elements, modify hydrological cycles, etc., thus enabling the groun...