Out of Death Valley — book cover. A field of spineless cactus under a desert sky at golden hour. Title in bold white and orange type at the top, subtitle below: How a Forgotten Plant Can Save Water, Produce Energy, and Cool the Climate. Author name Claus Schmidt at the bottom.

Forty percent of the earth’s land surface is arid or semi-arid. Two billion people live on it. The global energy transition has almost nothing to say to them.

This book does.

On Amazon: a.co/d/0dnaKDE3

#bioenergy #farming #agriculture #drylands
#climate #cactus #books

Register for our upcoming GT-M3 webinar series on 31 March 2026 from 3-4 PM. Dr Rosie Huck from @oxfordgeography.bsky.social will speak on re-evaluating dust emissions from burned surfaces on vegetated dunes, SW Kalahari using remote sensing.

#postgradwebinar #geomorphology #drylands #remotesensing

Aridity mediates the scale-dependent relationship between plant diversity and soil multifunctionality Dryland ecosystems are now exposed to intensifying aridity and plant diversity loss, posing significant threats to the maintenance of ecosystem multif…

Our new study highlights the importance of #biodiversity #conservation across scales in #drylands and provides insights for designing aridity-specific biodiversity conservation policies.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Publication Spotlight: Disentangling the drivers of vegetation change in a mobility-constrained pastoral landscape in Laikipia Kenya - POLLEN This research challenges the common narrative that pastoralist livestock degrade land in Kenya's Laikipia County. The study found vegetation changes were driven not by grazing, but by climate change, ...

New research in Laikipia, Kenya shows vegetation change isn’t just about livestock — it’s driven by climate, elephants, fire suppression & mobility-restricting conservation policies. Time to rethink assumptions about pastoralism & dryland change. 🌱🦣 #Pastoralism #Drylands by Ryan Unks

🌾 🔬 Fieldwork has begun for the #DRYLANDS project. CEAB researchers have launched the first sampling campaigns in #Monegros to capture aerosols and assess how land and water use changes may affect microbial aerosolisation and ecological connectivity at local and global scales🦠 🌐

Reading the patterns: vegetation patterns reveal the fragility of dryland sites Post provided by Benoît Pichon When I first started working on dryland ecosystems in my PhD, I didn’t expect to spend quite so much time staring at black-and-white aerial photographs. Yet these sim…

Love the simplicity of this study and its focus on a single ecosystem - #drylands - to tell powerful stories about change and where it might be leading.

#Ecology #GlobalChange #LongTermMonitoring

tinyurl.com/5n6k7zpv

#Drylands may look sparse aboveground, but the real strategy is #belowground. Across Southwest #Asia, #clonality doesn’t disappear with #aridity It peaks in the driest sites (again in #wetlands) Yes, #rhizomes are in the #desert! 🌱 1url.cz/5eKSZ #GoBelowground #ExFuMo

Drought-induced reductions in plant residue decomposition across organs consistently differ between two tree species (gymnosperm and angiosperm) in drylands This study found that drought significantly inhibited plant residue decomposition from different species and organs on the Loess Plateau, with stronger eff

【🎉Latest accepted article】
#Drought-induced reductions in #PlantResidueDecomposition across organs consistently differ between two tree species (gymnosperm and angiosperm) in #Drylands

#DrylandEcosystems | #MoistureAvailability

@umich.edu @yale.edu @mapjournals.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/jpe/...

Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands - Nature Ecology & Evolution It is unclear whether the harsh abiotic conditions of drylands hinder biological invasions. This global analysis shows that drylands are vulnerable to non-native plants and are likely to become more s...

#Abiotic and #biotic controls of non-native #perennial plant success in #drylands

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#Plantscience @natureportfolio.nature.com @nature.com @obviousplant.bsky.social @martinebotany.bsky.social @plantscience.bsky.social @plantscientist.bsky.social @hultinelab.bsky.social

🌵 Open for submission! Our new #ERE focus collection on 'Remote Sensing, Artificial Intelligence, and Process Modelling for Advancing Dryland Ecology Research' 🛰️🐪

🗓️ Deadline: 29 January 2027
🔗 More info: iopscience.iop.org/collections/...

#Environment #Ecology #Remotesensing #Modelling #Drylands

En Chine, des microalgues pour faire reculer le désert En Chine, la lutte contre la désertification entre dans une nouvelle phase. Dans les régions arides du nord-ouest, des scientifiques utilisent des algues microscopiques pour transformer le sable en so...

[1/4] Clea Broadhurst présente des recherches de scientifiques chinois spécialisés en écologie et sciences du sol. Ils analysent l’usage de #cyanobactéries dans les déserts du nord-ouest de la Chine pour transformer le sable en sol fonctionnel. #geography #desertification #drylands #China

Call for Abstracts – SWDCC 2026
📍 Djerba, Tunisia | 15–18 May 2026

Djerba to exchange knowledge, foster collaboration, and advance sustainable solutions for dryland environments. 🌱

Want to submit an abstract?
🗓 Deadline: 31 Jan 2026

🔗 www.swdcc-conferences.com

#EcoDRR #NbS #SWDCC2026 #Drylands

On the mountain the water is staying surprisingly well in the new reservoir. It probably only needs a little sodium bentonite to make it properly watertight.

#Ibi #Spain #waterharvesting #waterstorage #ponds #permaculture #rewilding #drylands

Maps of aridity categories for the reference period 1970–1999 for Worldclim, ERA5 and multimodel CMIP6. The maps do not show the Antarctic continent (entirely “cold”), but Antarctica is included in the computation of the proportion of aridity categories.

[8/8] L’aridification future prolonge les structures actuelles. Les zones sèches s’étendent surtout en périphérie des déserts existants. Ces cartes offrent un cadre robuste pour anticiper les tensions hydriques, sans réduire les impacts à une simple lecture écologique. #geography #aridity #drylands

Global projections of aridity index for mid and long-term future based on CMIP6 scenarios Abstract. This study evaluates and projects global aridity index (AI) and dryland distribution using the FAO Aridity Index based on Penman-Monteith potential evapotranspiration. A multimodel ensemble ...

[1/8] Camille Crapart, Sandrine Anquetin, Juliette Blanchet et Arona Diedhiou (Univ. Grenoble Alpes) analysent l’évolution mondiale de l’aridité. À partir de 13 modèles CMIP6, ils projettent les futurs climatiques jusqu’en 2100 selon trois scénarios. #geography #aridity #drylands

📢#TIBS2026 community! Don't miss @muditjoshi.bsky.social's eye-catching poster (1012) showcasing crop suitability over the #Holocene in the African and #Mediterranean #drylands. Tgisnisnpart of the #AgriDry project Come check it out!

📅 EGU26 | Vienna & online
🗓️ Abstract deadline: 15 Jan 2026
#EGU26 #Drylands #RemoteSensing #Ecology #FieldData

I don’t go up there very often – it’s a 100-metre scramble up to about 950 m – but today I was rewarded with a glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea, 35 km away.

#Ibi #Spain #Mediterranean #mountains #views #landscape #drylands

The long road: Ethnoarchaeology, pastoralism and the reconfiguration of archaeological knowledge | Cambridge Prisms: Drylands | Cambridge Core The long road: Ethnoarchaeology, pastoralism and the reconfiguration of archaeological knowledge - Volume 2

Recently published in Cambridge Prisms: Drylands

The long road: Ethnoarchaeology, pastoralism and the reconfiguration of archaeological knowledge

Free to read, share & download here: https://bit.ly/48O3I8d

#drylands #Ethnoarchaeology #Pastoralism

📜 Last week, IUCN and UNCCD signed an MoU to enhance cooperation leading up to UNCCD #COP17. The IUCN Forest and Grasslands Team, is proud to have worked with UNCCD to develop this MoU and enhance support for #rangelands, #drylands, and #grasslands, and the people who depend on these ecosystems.

Several groups of arruí (Barbary sheep) have been crossing the almond field almost every day. They leave welcome droppings everywhere – free fertilizer and imported seeds!

#Ibi #Spain #arrui #BarbarySheep #rewilding #permaculture #soilhealth #drylands #almonds

On the land, wild roses keep popping up on the slightly wetter edges of the terraces. Probably fieldbriar. The rose hips are now overripe – perfect food for the birds.

#Ibi #Spain #wildroses #fieldbriar #rosehips #rewilding #permaculture #drylands #wildflowers #birds

On the slightly wetter edges of the terraces, small surprises keep appearing.
Here, a tiny holm oak already carrying beautiful acorns.

#Ibi #Spain #holmOak #rewilding #permaculture #drylands

December, an unexpected find! a small group of quince trees, still full of fruit, on the edge of a dry terrace – exactly where the soil holds just a bit more moisture. The first harvest has already been turned into fragrant compote.

#quince #Spain #terraces #drylands #slowfood

- YouTube Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

🔴 HAPPENING NOW

🌳 Catch SIANI East African Dryland #Agroforestry Expert Group led by Vi Agroforestry at the 10th Annual Agroforestry Symposium, discussing how trees can transform #drylands, empower women and youth, and strengthen smallholder #farmers’ livelihoods.

buff.ly/2nUXOFB

【🎉Latest accepted article】
Soil multifunctionality in the face of #ClimateChange and human impact in China’s #Drylands

#HumanActivities | #GrainForGreen | #Fencing | #EcologicalEngineering

@mapjournals.bsky.social @pku1898.bsky.social @utokyoofficial.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/jpe/...

From Degradation to Restoration: Remote Sensing Tracks Asia’s Struggle for Sustainable Drylands | Newswise Across Asia’s vast drylands, a new study reveals a critical imbalance between degradation and recovery. Researchers analyzed two decades of satellite data and developed an integrated ecohealth-neutral...

From Degradation to Restoration: Remote Sensing Tracks Asia’s Struggle for Sustainable Drylands
www.newswise.com/articles/fro...
#sustainabledevelopmentgoals #ecology #geography #deforestation #drylands #ClimateStress #sustainabledevelopment

Sequential Thresholds Shape Drylands' Multitrophic Response to Aridification We analyzed biodiversity responses across 290 global dryland ecoregions and found that all taxonomic and trophic groups, from microbes to mammals, showed abrupt threshold declines with increasing ari...

🚨New paper out!🚨
We here analysed how different organisms (from #microbes to #mammals🦠🐝🪱🦅🦎🐸🦒🐟) react to #aridity in #drylands #ecoregions🌡️🌄, and how #biodiversity, #humandisturbance, #climatechange and #landusechange modulate richness loss in drylands

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Cambridge Prisms: Drylands marks 1 year of publishing! Thank you to everyone contributing to a growing community exploring the science, management, and future of drylands.

Learn more at https://t.co/1pHfllH23z

#Drylands #CPDrylands https://t.co/k6yDpWdTcA

Delighted to celebrate the first anniversary of this journal. As an editor, it’s been inspiring to see such a wide range of articles advancing our understanding of dryland ecosystems. If you work in #drylands please consider submitting your work to us www.cambridge.org/core/journal...