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Dryland Ecosystems

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Book cover Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 10))

Abstract

Drylands occupy approximately 40% of the Earth’s land surface and have low inputs of mean annual precipitation (P) relative to mean annual potential evapotranspirational (ET) losses (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO 1979) proposed the following classification scheme for drylands: hyper-arid zone (P/ET <0.03), arid zone (P/ET 0.03–0.20), semi-arid zone (P/ET 0.20–0.05) and subhumid zone (P/ET 050–0.75). The majority of studies summarised in this chapter were conducted in arid and semi-arid zones with mean annual precipitation ≤300 mm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Studies Department, Florida International University, 11200 S.W. 8th St., Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Anne Hartley

  2. Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, UCB 450, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Nichole Barger

  3. U.S. Geological Survey, 2290 S. Resource Blvd., Moab, UT, 84532, USA

    Jayne Belnap

  4. Department of Geography, University of California, 1255 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Gregory S. Okin

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  1. Anne Hartley
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  2. Nichole Barger
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  3. Jayne Belnap
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  4. Gregory S. Okin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Soil and Land Systems, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, DP 636, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    Petra Marschner

  2. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, M087 School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Zdenko Rengel

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Hartley, A., Barger, N., Belnap, J., Okin, G.S. (2007). Dryland Ecosystems. In: Marschner, P., Rengel, Z. (eds) Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems. Soil Biology, vol 10. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-68027-7_10

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