Modelled responses of the Kalahari Desert to 21^st century climate and land use change.

ABSTRACT: Drylands are home to over 2 billion people globally, many of whom use the land for agricultural and pastoral activities. These vulnerable livelihoods could be disrupted if desert dunefields become more active in response to climate and land use change. Despite increasing knowledge about the role that wind, moisture availability and vegetation cover play in shaping dryland landscapes, relatively little is known about how drylands might respond to climatic and population pressures over the 21^st century. Here we use a newly developed numerical model, which fully couples vegetation and sediment-transport dynamics, to simulate potential landscape evolution at three locations in the Kalahari Desert, under two future emissions scenarios: stabilising (RCP 4.5) and high (RCP 8.5). Our si

SUBMITTER: Mayaud JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5478674 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature