Skip to main content

Part of the book series: Landscape Series ((LAEC,volume 17))

Abstract

Drylands are central to the Eurasia continent both geographically and culturally. However, both the drylands and the montane areas embedded within them have been little studied relative to other regions of the world. We introduce the region through key characteristics, noting how the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report finds little extant information on current and projected changes in Greater Central Asia due to a variable and changing climate. We conclude with an overview of the essays comprising the volume.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abdullaev SF, Sokolik IN (2020) Assessment of the influence of dust storms on the cotton production in Tajikistan. In: Gutman G et al (eds) Landscape dynamics of drylands across greater Central Asia: people, societies and ecosystems. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Angel S, Parent J, Civco DL et al (2011) The dimensions of global urban expansion: estimates and projections for all countries, 2000–2050. Prog Plann 75(2):53–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archer S, Schimel DS, Holland EA (1995) Mechanisms of shrubland expansion: land use, climate or CO2? Clim Chang 29(1):91–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azykova EK (2002) Geographysical and landscape characteristics of mountain territories. Mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Technology, Bishkek, pp 15–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Bai J, Chen X, Li J, Yang L, Fang H (2011) Changes in the area of inland lakes in arid regions of Central Asia during the past 30 years. Environ Monit Assess 178(1–4):247–256

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beckwith CI (2009) Empires of the silk road: a history of central Eurasia from the bronze age to the present. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Behnke RH (ed) (2008) The socio-economic causes and consequences of desertification in Central Asia. Springer, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Bothe O, Fraedrich K, Zhu X (2012) Precipitation climate of Central Asia and the large-scale atmospheric circulation. Theor Appl Climatol 108(3–4):345–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brandt JS, Haynes MA, Kuemmerle T et al (2013) Regime shift on the roof of the world: alpine meadows converting to shrublands in the southern Himalayas. Biol Conserv 158:116–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen J, John R, Shao C et al (2015) Policy shifts influence the functional changes of the CNH systems on the Mongolian plateau. Environ Res Lett 10:085003

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen J, John R, Sun G et al (2018) Prospects for the sustainability of social-ecological systems (SES) on the Mongolian plateau: five critical issues. Environ Res Lett

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen J, Ouyang Z, John R et al (2020) Social-ecological systems across the Asian Drylands Belt (ADB). In: Gutman G et al (eds) Landscape dynamics of drylands across greater Central Asia: people, societies and ecosystems. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen JH, Kumar KK, Aldrian E et al (2013) Intergovernmental panel on climate change (2014). Climate phenomena and their relevance for future regional climate change. In: Climate change 2013 – the physical science basis: Working Group I Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (pp. 1217–1308). : Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowan PJ (2007) Geographic usage of the terms middle Asia and Central Asia. J Arid Environ 69(2):359–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Beurs KM, Henebry GM (2008) Northern annular mode effects on the land surface phenologies of northern Eurasia. J Clim 21:4257–4279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Beurs KM, Henebry GM, Owsley BC, Sokolik I (2015) Using multiple remote sensing perspectives to identify and attribute land surface dynamics in Central Asia 2001–2013. Remote Sens Environ 170:48–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Beurs KM, Owsley BC, Julian JP (2016) Disturbance analyses of forests and grasslands with MODIS and Landsat in New Zealand. Int J Appl Earth Obs 45:42–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Beurs KM, Henebry GM, Owsley B, Sokolik I (2018) Large scale climate oscillation impacts on temperature, precipitation, and land surface phenology in Central Asia. Environ Res Lett 13:065018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dietz AJ, Conrad C, Kuenzer C et al (2014) Identifying changing snow cover characteristics in Central Asia between 1986 and 2014 from remote sensing data. Remote Sens 6:12752–12775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Du MM (2016) China’s “one belt, one road” initiative: context, focus, institutions, and implications. Chn J Glob Govern 2(1):30–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eldridge DJ, Bowker MA, Maestre FT et al (2011) Impacts of shrub encroachment on ecosystem structure and functioning: towards a global synthesis. Ecol Lett 14(7):709–722

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fan P, Ouyang Z, Chen JJ et al (2020) Population and urban dynamics in drylands of China. In: Gutman G et al (eds) Landscape dynamics of drylands across greater Central Asia: people, societies and ecosystems. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Flato G, Marotzke J, Abiodun B et al (2013) Evaluation of climate models. In: Stocker et al (eds) Climate change 2013: the physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 741–866

    Google Scholar 

  • Foggin JM (2018) Environmental conservation in the Tibetan plateau region: lessons for China’s belt and road initiative in the mountains of Central Asia. Land 7(2):52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford JD, Berrang-Ford L, Bunce A et al (2015) The status of climate change adaptation in Africa and Asia. Reg Environ Chang 15:801–814

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank AG (1992) The centrality of Central Asia. Stud Hist 8(1):43–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser EDG, Dougill AJ, Hubacek K et al (2011) Assessing vulnerability to climate change in dryland livelihood systems: conceptual challenges and interdisciplinary solutions. Ecol Soc 16(3):3

    Google Scholar 

  • Geist HJ, Lambin EF (2004) Dynamic causal patterns of desertification. Bioscience 54(9):817–829

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groisman P, Bulygina O, Henebry G et al (2018) Dry land belt of northern Eurasia: contemporary environmental changes and their consequences. Environ Res Lett 13:115008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groisman PY, Bulygina ON, Henebry GM et al (2020) Dry land belt of Northern Eurasia: contemporary environmental changes. In: Gutman G et al (eds) Landscape dynamics of drylands across greater Central Asia: people, societies and ecosystems. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Güneralp B, Güneralp İ, Liu Y (2015) Changing global patterns of urban exposure to flood and drought hazards. Global Environ Chang 31:217–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henebry GM, de Beurs KM, Wright CK et al (2013) Dryland East Asia in hemispheric context. In: Chen J, Wan S, Henebry G, Qi J, Gutman G, Sun G, Kappas M (eds) Dryland East Asia: land dynamics amid social and climate change. HEP/De Gruyter, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Henebry GM, de Beurs KM, John R et al (2020) Recent land surface dynamics across the drylands of Greater Central Asia. In: Gutman G et al (eds) Landscape dynamics of drylands across greater Central Asia: people, societies and ecosystems. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Hijioka Y, Lin E, Pereira JJ et al (2014) Asia. In: Climate change 2014 – impacts, adaptation and vulnerability: part B: regional aspects: Working Group II contribution to the IPCC fifth assessment report. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 1327–1370

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkirk P (1994) The great game: the struggle for empire in Central Asia. Kodansha Globe

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Yu H, Guan X et al (2016) Accelerated dryland expansion under climate change. Nat Clim Chang 6(2):166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Immerzeel WW, van Beek LPH, Bierkens MFP (2010) Climate change will affect the Asian water towers. Science 328:1382–1385

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones H, Lister DL, Cai D et al (2016) The trans-Eurasian crop exchange in prehistory: discerning pathways from barley phylogeography. Quatern Int 426:26–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jourdain NC, Gupta AS, Taschetto AS et al (2013) The indo-Australian monsoon and its relationship to ENSO and IOD in reanalysis data and the CMIP3/CMIP5 simulations. Clim Dynam 41(11–12):3073–3102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kappas M, Degener J, Klinge M et al (2020) A conceptual framework for ecosystem stewardship based on landscape dynamics: case studies from Kazakhstan and Mongolia. In: Gutman G et al (eds) Landscape dynamics of drylands across greater Central Asia: people, societies and ecosystems. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Koronkevich N (2002) Rivers, lakes, inlands seas, and wetlands. In: Shahgedanova (ed) The physical geography of northern Eurasia. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 122–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee JY, Wang B, Seo KH et al (2014) Future change of northern hemisphere summer tropical–extratropical teleconnection in CMIP5 models. J Clim 27(10):3643–3664

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesnikowski AC, Ford JD, Berrang-Ford LM et al (2015) How are we adapting to climate change? A global assessment. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Chang 20:277–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lioubimtseva E (2002) Arid environments. In: Shahgedanova M (ed) The physical geography of northern Eurasia. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 267–283

    Google Scholar 

  • Lioubimtseva E, Henebry GM (2009) Climate and environmental change in arid Central Asia: impacts, vulnerability, and adaptations. J Arid Environ 73(11):963–977

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lioubimtseva E, Kariyeva J, Henebry GM (2012) Climate change in Turkmenistan. In: Zonn et al (eds) The Turkmen Lake “Altyn Asyr” and water resources in Turkmenistan. Springer, Berlin, pp 39–58

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J, Zhang W, Liu T (2017) Monitoring recent changes in snow cover in Central Asia using improved MODIS snow-cover products. J Arid Land 9(5):763–777

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobser SE, Cohen WB (2007) MODIS tasselled cap: land cover characteristics expressed through transformed MODIS data. Int J Remote Sens 28(22):5079–5101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merzlyakova I (2002) The mountains of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. In: Shahgedanova (ed) The physical geography of northern Eurasia. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 377–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer KE, Brysac SB (2009) Tournament of shadows: the great game and the race for empire in Central Asia. Hachette, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Mizuta R (2012) Intensification of extratropical cyclones associated with the polar jet change in the CMIP5 global warming projections. Geophys Res Lett 39(19)

    Google Scholar 

  • Okin GS, Parsons AJ, Wainwright J et al (2009) Do changes in connectivity explain desertification? Bioscience 59(3):237–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okin GS, Moreno-de las Heras M, Saco PM et al (2015) Connectivity in dryland landscapes: shifting concepts of spatial interactions. Front Ecol Environ 13(1):20–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qi J, Pueppke S, Kulmatov R et al (2020) The complexity and challenges and challenges of Central Asia’s water-energy-food systems. In: Gutman G et al (eds) Landscape dynamics of drylands across greater Central Asia: people, societies and ecosystems. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Rangwala I, Miller JR (2012) Climate change in mountains: a review of elevation-dependent warming and its possible causes. Clim Chang 114:527–547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reyer C, Otto IM, Adams S et al (2017) Climate change impacts in Central Asia and their implications for development. Reg Environ Chang 17:1639–1650

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saiko TA, Zonn IS (2000) Irrigation expansion and dynamics of desertification in the Circum-Aral region of Central Asia. Appl Geogr 20(4):349–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokolik IN, Shiklomanov A, Xi X et al (2020) Quantifying the anthropogenic signature in drylands of Central Asia and its impact on water scarcity and dust emissions. In: Gutman G et al (eds) Landscape dynamics of drylands across greater Central Asia: people, societies and ecosystems. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Spaeth KE, Weltz MA, Guertin DP et al (2020) Hydrology and erosion risk parameters for grasslands in Central Asia. In: Gutman G et al (eds) Landscape dynamics of drylands across greater Central Asia: people, societies and ecosystems. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Spengler R, Frachetti M, Doumani P et al (2014) Early agriculture and crop transmission among bronze age mobile pastoralists of Central Eurasia. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 281(1783):20133382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson SL (2012) Significant changes to ENSO strength and impacts in the twenty-first century: results from CMIP5. Geophys Res Lett 39(17)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang Z, Wang X, Wang J et al (2017) Spatiotemporal variation of snow cover in Tianshan Mountains, Central Asia, based on cloud-free MODIS fractional snow cover product, 2001–2015. Remote Sens-Basel 9(10):1045

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomaszewska MA, Henebry GM (2018) Changing snow seasonality in the highlands of Kyrgyzstan. Environ Res Lett 13:065006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Wehrden H, Hanspach J, Ronnenberg K, Wesche K (2010) Inter-annual rainfall variability in Central Asia–a contribution to the discussion on the importance of environmental stochasticity in drylands. J Arid Environ 74(10):1212–1215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright CK, de Beurs KM, Henebry GM (2014) Land surface anomalies preceding the 2010 Russian heat wave and a link to the North Atlantic oscillation. Environ Res Lett 9:124015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu L, Zhou H, Du L et al (2015) Precipitation trends and variability from 1950 to 2000 in arid lands of Central Asia. J Arid Land 7(4):514–526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu H (2017) Motivation behind China’s ‘one belt, one road’ initiatives and establishment of the Asian infrastructure investment bank. J Contemp China 26(105):353–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang M, Chen Y, Shen Y, Li B (2019) Tracking climate change in Central Asia through temperature and precipitation extremes. J Geogr Sci 29(1):3–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao S, Liu S, Xu C et al (2018) Contemporary evolution and scaling of 32 major cities in China. Ecol Appl 28(6):1655–1668

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou H, Aizen E, Aizen V (2013) Deriving long term snow cover extent dataset from AVHRR and MODIS data: Central Asia case study. Remote Sens Environ 136:146–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the financial support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)‘s Land-Cover and Land-Use Change (LCLUC) Program through a grant to South Dakota State University (NNX15AP81G) and a grant to Michigan State University (NNX15AD51G). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NASA.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Geoffrey M. Henebry .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Henebry, G.M., Chen, J., Gutman, G., Kappas, M. (2020). Multiple Perspectives on Drylands Across Greater Central Asia. In: Gutman, G., Chen, J., Henebry, G., Kappas, M. (eds) Landscape Dynamics of Drylands across Greater Central Asia: People, Societies and Ecosystems. Landscape Series, vol 17. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30742-4_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics