Arid Lands Newsletter

August 2007 ,
Issue No. 59

The Rillito 'River' of Tucson, Arizona, in full flood in July 2006, during the summer monsoon rains.

ISSN: 1092-5481

What's so special about drylands?

Katherine Waser, Editor
Office of Arid Lands Studies (OALS)

About this newsletter:
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OALS is part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the cover image

Editor's note:
How DO we know what's so special about drylands?

The future of arid lands revisited: a brief overview
by Katherine Waser

Where rivers run dry or ten feet high: Variation and predictability matter more than averages for desert ecosystems
by Mary Price and Nick Waser

Our changing biological and climate calendar, or, what is phenology and why should we care?
by Mark Losleben and Wim van Leeuwen

Briefly noted:
Selected news of interest
Selected resources of interest

Download the paper summary version of ALN No. 59 (.pdf file)

CALL FOR PAPERS

The next issue of the Arid Lands Newsletter (No. 60) will continue to explore the themes declared for the International Year of Deserts and Desertification (2006) by considering how drylands policy makers, land managers and residents are developing coping strategies to deal with the serious and global threat posed by desertification.

Specifically, articles for this upcoming issue should explore some aspect of the current "state of the art" regarding effective strategies for combating desertification and increasing resilience of local communities, both:

in the short term (e.g. diversifying livelihood strategies, sharing knowledge and appropriate technologies), and
in the long-term (e.g. developing policies and institutional mechanisms to promote sustainable land use).

Both broad overviews and more narrowly focused papers detailing specific research or case studies are welcome.

Proposals for papers, comments, suggestions for possible authors, suggestions for resources (web, paper, CD-ROM etc.) to be included, etc. in either of these issues, are welcome. Please send your suggestions to Katherine Waser, Editor, Arid Lands Newsletter.