An approach to derive relationships for defining land degradation and desertification risk and developing appropriate tools for assessing the effectiveness of the various land management practices using indicators is presented in the present paper. In order to investigate which indicators are most effective in assessing the level of desertification risk, a total of 70 candidate indicators was selected providing information for the biophysical environment, socio-economic conditions, and land management characteristics.

It has become increasingly clear that desertification can only be tackled through a multi-disciplinary approach that not only involves scientists but also stakeholders. In the DESIRE project such an approach was taken. As a first step, a conceptual framework was developed in which the factors and processes that may lead to land degradation and desertification were described. Many of these factors do not work independently, but can reinforce or weaken one another, and to illustrate these relationships sustainable management and policy feedback loops were included.

Desertification is a threat to human survival and has a major sustainability development impact on environment and socio-economic society. The study area where oasis desertification occurred is located east of the Ebinur Lake region, just west of Junggar Basin in Xinjiang, China. The ecological and environmental issues in the study area are vulnerable and sensitive. The authors of this paper discuss the changes in land desertification that occurred between 1990 and 2010.

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.

Caragana microphylla was the dominant plant species to be used to control desertification in semi-arid Horqin Sandy Land, China. To elucidate the cover effect of Caragana microphylla planted for 25 years on spatial distribution of soil nutrients including C, N, P and K, soil samples were taken from four soil depths (0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-40 cm) and three slope positions (windward slope, top slope, and leeward slope). Soil nutrients under shrubs (US) and between shrubs (BS) were compared to investigate the enrichment effect of plantation.

Leaf traits have long been recognized as influential factors in the acquisition and processing of resources by plants. However, there is less knowledge of between-species variations in seasonal changes in leaf traits and trait interrelationships. Therefore, we examined variations in leaf area (LA), dry biomass (DM), specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf gas-exchange parameters in one non-native and seven native tree species under field environmental conditions, in a karst area in China subjected to desertification. Measurements were taken three times during the growing season.

Demands are increasing for scientific research to be explicitly and demonstrably policy relevant. Research funders are requiring greater returns on their investments and scientists are expected to demonstrate clearly how their research can inform policy and regulation to deliver positive consequences for societal, economic and environmental wellbeing.

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.

Mediterranean croplands are seasonally dry agroecosystems with low soil organic carbon (SOC) content and high risk of land degradation and desertification. The increase in SOC is of special interest in these systems, as it can help to build resilience for climate change adaptation while contributing to mitigate global warming through the sequestration of atmospheric carbon (C). We compared SOC change and C sequestration under a number of recommended management practices (RMPs) with neighboring conventional plots under Mediterranean climate (174 data sets from 79 references).

Most desertification research focuses on degradation assessments without putting sufficient emphasis on prevention and mitigation strategies, although the concept of sustainable land management (SLM) is increasingly being acknowledged. A variety of already applied conservation measures exist at the local level, but they are not adequately recognised, evaluated and shared, either by land users, technicians, researchers, or policy makers. Likewise, collaboration between research and implementation is often insufficient.

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).