title: Global desertification: building a science for dryland development.
abstract: In this millennium, global drylands face a myriad of problems that present tough research, management, and policy challenges. Recent advances in dryland development, however, together with the integrative approaches of global change and sustainability science, suggest that concerns about land degradation, poverty, safeguarding biodiversity, and protecting the culture of 2.5 billion people can be confronted with renewed optimism. We review recent lessons about the functioning of dryland ecosystems and the livelihood systems of their human residents and introduce a new synthetic framework, the Drylands Development Paradigm (DDP). The DDP, supported by a growing and well-documented set of tools for policy and management action, helps navigate the inherent complexity of desertification and dryland development, identifying and synthesizing those factors important to research, management, and policy communities.
authors.affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and Department of Biology, Post Office Box 90328, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA. james.f.reynolds@duke.edu
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: D Mark Stafford
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Eric F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Lambin
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mortimore
authors.forename: Simon P J
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Batterbury
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Downing
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dowlatabadi
authors.forename: Roberto J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Jeffrey E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Herrick
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Huber-Sannwald
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Rik
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leemans
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lynam
authors.forename: Fernando T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Maestre
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ayarza
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D003889:Desert Climate; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D011640:Public Policy; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D012987:Soil