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A satellite image of the Sahara, the world's largest hot desert and third largest desert after Antarctica and the Arctic. Desert greening is the process of afforestation or revegetation of deserts for ecological restoration (biodiversity), sustainable farming and forestry, but also for reclamation of natural water systems and other ecological systems that support life.
The small desert nation reuses 86% of its wastewater as of 2011, and 40% of the total water used by agriculture was reclaimed wastewater. [10] Desalination, brackish, or effluent water also accounts for 44% of Israel's water supply, [11] and the world's largest seawater desalination plant is the Sorek Desalination Plant located in Tel Aviv. [12]
Desertification is a gradual process of increased soil aridity.Desertification has been defined in the text of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as "land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities."
Xeric shrublands can experience woody plant encroachment, which is the thickening of bushes and shrubs at the expense of grasses. [5] This process is often caused by unsustainable land management practices, such as overgrazing and fire suppression, but can also be a consequence of climate change.
The planting of trees on marginal crop and pasture lands helps to incorporate carbon from atmospheric CO 2 into biomass. [29] [30] For this carbon sequestration process to succeed the carbon must not return to the atmosphere from biomass burning or rotting when the trees die. [31] To this end, land allotted to the trees must not be converted to ...
Desertification is the process by which a piece of land becomes a desert, as the word desert implies. [3] The loss or destruction of the biological potential of the land is referred to as desertification. [4] It reduces or eliminates the potential for plant and animal production on the land and is a component of the widespread ecosystem ...
Sand dunes in the Sahara Desert. Desert ecology is the study of interactions between both biotic and abiotic components of desert environments. A desert ecosystem is defined by interactions between organisms, the climate in which they live, and any other non-living influences on the habitat.
Some desert plants produce seed which lies dormant in the soil until sparked into growth by rainfall. With annuals, such plants grow with great rapidity and may flower and set seed within weeks, aiming to complete their development before the last vestige of water dries up. For perennial plants, reproduction is more likely to be successful if ...