The Causes and Progression of Desertification (Ashgate Studies in Environmental Policy and Practice)

Hardcover, 2006 reprint, xiv + 258 pages, NOT ex-library. Missing the dust jacket. Neat green highlighting on first seven text pages. A small indentation to the tip of upper corner of last leaves. Else interior is clean and bright with no other markings in text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Light handling wear on boards; ISBN sticker on rear panel. -- This book provides an examination into the causes and prospects of desertification through a systematic review of 132 sub national case studies. It uses a meta-analytical model to determine whether proximate causes and underlying driving forces fall into any patterns, to identify mediating factors, feedbacks, cross-scalar dynamics and typical pathways. It shows a limited set of recurrent core variables in varying combinations to drive desertification. Most prominent root causes are climatic factors, institutions, national policies, population growth and remote economic influences that lead to local cropland expansion, overgrazing and infrastructure extension, associated with desertification as a potential but not necessary outcome. Some factors are geographically robust; most of them are region and time specific. -- Contents: 1 The Problem and Its Identification; 2 Research Design; 3 Initial Conditions; 4 Causes and System Properties; 5 Syndromes and Process Rates; 6 Pathways; 7 Indicators; 8 Discussion; 9 Conclusions; Bibliography; Index. …