Land Degradation [Hardcover]

This book contains selected contributions from the Sixth Meeting of the International Geographical Union's Commission on Land Degradation and Desertification, held in Perth, Australia, in September 1999. Collectively, these contributions explicitly seek to understand not only the mechanisms responsible for the problem of land degradation but their social and economic implications, the means of overcoming the problems, and the policy instruments whereby remedial measures may be implemented. This breadth of approach is both distinctive and essential if the problems are to be tackled effectively. The authorship comprises of specialists (mostly geographers) from universities, research organizations, and government agencies, who provide a truly international perspective with contributions from Iceland to Australia and from the USA to Japan.
Audience: The book presents current research findings which will be of particular benefit to professionals and practitioners, as well as researchers and tertiary-level educationalists who are involved with land degradation.Papers Selected from Contributions to the Sixth Meeting of the International Geographical Union's Commission on Land Degradation and Desertification, Perth, Western Australia, 20-28 September 1999Preface. Keynote Paper. 1. Agrodiversity - A Positive Means of Addressing Land Degradation and Sustainable Rural Livelihoods; M. Stocking. Part One: Land Degradation Processes. 2. Geostatistical Analysis and Simulation of West African Sahel Rainfall; A. Chappell, C.T. Agnew. 3. Nebkha Dunes as Indicators of Soil Degradation in the Molopo Basin, South Africa and Botswana; A.J. Dougill, A.D. Thomas. 4. Desertification in an Arid Shrubland in the Southwestern United States: Process Modelling and Validation; G.S. Okin, et al. 5. The Potential for Degradation of Landscape Function and Cultural Values Following the Extinction of Mitika (Bettongia Lesueur) in Central Al“p