Multiscale controls on and consequences of aeolian processes in landscape change in arid and semi-arid environments

TitleMultiscale controls on and consequences of aeolian processes in landscape change in arid and semi-arid environments
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2006
AuthorsOkin GS, Gillette D.E, Herrick JE
JournalJournal of Arid Environments
Volume65
Pagination253-275
Date PublishedApril 1, 2006
ARIS Log Number179521
Keywordsaeolian processes, desertification, dust emission, landscape change, wind erosion
AbstractAeolian processes are tightly linked to soil and vegetation change in deserts at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Wind influences patterns of vegetation and soil within the landscape, while these patterns control wind erosion at patch to landscape scales. Aggregated at larger scales, patterns in soil and vegetation distributions influence global distributions of dust and its biogeochemical impacts. Understanding the controls on aeolian processes is, therefore, important not only in understanding the biogeochemistry and land cover patterns in dryland environments but also in understanding global land cover, climate, and biogeochemistry. These relationships are poorly understood, particularly for structurally complex plant communities such as shrub-invaded grasslands. The objective of this paper is to review the controls on aeolian processes and their consequences at plant-interspace, patch-landscape, and regional-global scales. Based on this review, we define the requirements for a cross-scale model of wind erosion in structurally complex arid and semi-arid ecosystems. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6WH9-4H1004J-1-1N&_cdi=6845&_user=1496926&_orig=browse&_coverDate=04%2F30%2F2006&_sk=999349997&view=c&wchp=dGLbVtb-zSkWA&md5=e74666463d89e6fd5315d4fde2958934&ie=/sdarticle.pdf
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