The Global-DEP conceptual framework — research on dryland ecosystems to promote sustainability
Introduction
Drylands cover 41% of the global land surface and support ∼40% of the global population [1••]. They represent a vulnerable part of the Earth’s terrestrial environments due to low water availability [2], long dry spells [3], and high vulnerability to degradation, and they are under additional stress due to on-going climate change. Water-limited ecosystems are characterized by low and high variability rainfall levels, and the high frequency of extreme climate events in drylands has imposed multiple challenges for the economic development and sustainability of dryland livelihoods [4]. Extended periods of limited water availability result in great vulnerability to global climate changes and anthropogenic disturbances in drylands [5], and the relatively low human population density means that dryland social-ecological systems (SESs) are often distant from centres of governance, business and learning [1••].
SESs are complex adaptive systems that are constituted by interactions between diverse people and elements of diverse ecosystems [6]. Facing the dynamic interactions among the human and nonhuman elements of a SES, scientific analysis tools are still lacking to synthesize SES knowledge into possible explanations of the social-ecological interactions and processes [7]. In particular, research on the structure and function of dryland SESs has not received sufficient attention worldwide [8•,9, 10, 11]. Dryland SESs seem to have low rates of biological activity and sparse biota [9], as well as low population density through most of their area [1••]. However, in fact, global drylands have not only largely contributed to the global land carbon sink in terms of inter-annual variation and trends based on 40% of global net primary productivity [12] but also contain approximately one-third of biodiversity hotspots and provide habitat for 28% of endangered species [8•]. Moreover, dryland SESs are especially sensitive to rapid rates of physical and social changes, such as climate change and urbanization [1••,2]. Given the speed and intensity of climate change and socioeconomic development, both of which risk aggravating issues such as land degradation, poverty, food and water insecurity in drylands, systematic research on both social and ecological processes as well as their interactions on these issues in dryland SES is essential.
The United Nations (UN) adopted ‘Transforming our World: The 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development’, which set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 [13], providing a new framework for a systemic approach to drylands. The SDGs provide a framework for considering how essential needs (such as food, water and energy security as well as ecosystem services from the biosphere) that are met by ecosystems can be maintained while also meeting human development objectives (such as no poverty, human health and equality, education and livelihoods); these tradeoffs (and synergies) in values and governance can be mediated through issues such infrastructure, urban development and consumption patterns [14]. This framing of deep social-ecological interactions rather than individual ecological processes supports the gradual evolution towards treating drylands as coupled SESs [1••]. Dryland issues, such as land degradation and limited soil fertility subject to water scarcity, can then be linked with quality of life, poverty reduction, agricultural production and food security, connecting many SDGs. Research on coupled SESs is easily proposed but difficult to enact; however, in drylands, as elsewhere, it requires a systematic approach to integration, such as that proposed by the 3Cs: the ‘classification–coordination–collaboration’ approach [15•]. This research must operate across sectors, actors in society, and countries [16] to capture synergies among SDGs and manage conflicts that may arise due to tradeoffs between goals [17]. The Global Dryland Ecosystem Programme (Global-DEP) (Box 1), which is co-chaired by Professor Bojie Fu and Dr Mark Stafford Smith and members from across the world, with technical support from a secretariat based in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been established as a scientific programme to help coordinate research and development efforts that support the achievement of SDGs in dryland SESs, drawing on insights from diverse disciplines [18].
The Global-DEP aims to facilitate a global research collaboration on dryland SESs that engages global researchers, practitioners and policymakers in developing a science plan to support dryland ecosystem management and sustainable livelihoods, as well as an action plan to secure funding for programme implementation. In this article, we synthesize previous studies on drylands with inputs from various regional consultations (e.g. Ref. [18]) to develop a conceptual framework and show how the framework will lead to a set of timely research priorities. These are proposed to become the basis for the Global-DEP science plan, with the aim of enhancing the monitoring, assessment and management of global dryland SESs and helping to achieve the SDGs in drylands in ways that are regionally and culturally appropriate. Global-DEP aims to complete global consultations and launch its science plan during 2021.
Section snippets
Conceptual framework
Understanding how drylands respond to ongoing environmental change is extremely important for global sustainability [19•], given the significant role of drylands in earth system function and in supporting human populations. Not only has the increasing climatic risk of relatively higher precipitation variability and warming than humid areas reduced the resilience of dryland ecosystems [20,21•], but human resource extraction in drylands has resulted in land degradation in some locations [22].
Research themes and priorities
Based on the overarching framework of helping dryland SESs meet the SDGs, each of the four themes raises specific research priorities as follows.
Outlook
Because the rapidly changing SESs in drylands are faced with growing threats, the Global-DEP aims to organize key salient concepts relevant to the interdisciplinary and cross-cultural understanding of dryland SESs, which have specific contexts and a geographically representative structure. The programme thus has the potential to promote collaboration among global researchers as well as communication with policy makers, managers and practitioners for dryland ecosystem management to promote
Conflict of interest statement
Nothing declared.
References and recommended reading
Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as:
• of special interest
•• of outstanding interest
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (121311KYSB20170004) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41991230). We thank Prof Fernando T. Maestre and the three anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions regarding the draft of this manuscript.
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