DNI Publications

() Bernard Bonnet (coordination éditoriale), Jean-Luc Chotte (coordination éditoriale), Pierre Hiernaux (coordination éditoriale), Alexandre Ickowicz (coordination éditoriale), Maud Loireau (coordination éditoriale)
Désertification et changement climatique, un même combat?
We are pleased to inform you that the new book entitled: “Désertification et changement climatique, un même combat?“, has been published by the French Scientific Committee on Desertification (CSFD; https://www.csf-desertification.org/).
The pdf and ePub versions of the book are freely available here.
 
In the last chapter, devoted to teaching, capacity building, and awareness raising on desertification issues, there is a reference to the “DNI Academy” initiative, the Master in Desert Studies at the Ben Gurion University, and the PhD on Land Degradation and Desertification at the University of Sassari/UN University for Peace, among others (page 123).

Books

https://www.quae-open.com/produit/252/9782759238040/desertification-et-changement-climatique-un-meme-combat

(2023) EUSO
Soil Atlas of Asia

The EUSO, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has brought together over 100 soil experts from 45 Asian and European countries to produce the first-ever SOIL ATLAS OF ASIA. The atlas is targeted at the general public, decision-makers, politicians, teachers and even scientists in other disciplines, and aims to raise awareness of the importance of soil to human existence in Asia. The atlas explains, in a simple and clear manner, the reasons for the varying patterns of soil across Asia as well as the need to conserve and manage this increasingly threatened natural resource through sustainable use. At its heart is a series of annotated maps that show, for the very first time, the diversity of soil characteristics across the Asian continent in a manner that is comprehensible to the layperson. Download the Atlas: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/soil-atlas-asia

Books

https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/soil-atlas-asia

(2022) Alexandre Christofaro Silva, André Rodrigo Rech, Diego Tassinari
Book – Peatlands of Southern Espinhaço Mountain Range, Brazil

SYNOPSIS
Peatlands are transition ecosystems between terrestrial and aquatic environments, formed by the accumulation in time and space of plant tissues under conditions of excessive humidity, low nutrient availability, low pH and oxygen scarcity, where organic matter undergoes slow humification processes. The peatland ecosystems of the Southern Espinhaço Mountain Range, located in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, were formed by the sui generis combination of environmental factors, source of its great biodiversity, endemic and peculiar. For thousands of years these ecosystems have been developing, preserving proxies for environmental reconstitution, sequestering more and more carbon and increasing their capacity to store water (“sponge effect”) and regulate the flow of water courses. Environmental reconstitution studies carried out in these ecosystems have evidenced several regional paleoclimatic changes in the last 35 thousand years. The stock of sequestered carbon is 4,877,840 tons and 142,138,262 m³ of water are stored in 14,288 ha of these peatlands (In 2023 we revised the map and obtained an area of 25,385 ha, 8.7 million tons of carbon and 255 million m³ of water). These ecosystems constitute the headwaters of rivers in the most important basins in eastern Brazil: the São Francisco, Jequitinhonha and Doce river basins and regulate their flow during the dry period of the year. However, peatlands located outside protected areas are threatened by anthropization. The Long-Term Ecological Research Program “Peatlands of the Southern Espinhaço Mountain Range: ecosystem services and biodiversity” – PELD TURF (fund: CNPq and FAPEMIG), started in 2021, intensified the characterization and monitoring of the biodiversity and ecosystem services of these peatlands. The results of two decades of research revealed the importance of these ecosystems for biodiversity, for the global carbon cycle, for regional water resources and for paleoenvironmental reconstitution. It was also evident that the rapid degradation of these ecosystems, caused mainly by anthropization, can irreversibly compromise, in the medium term, their ecosystem services, biodiversity and paleoenvironmental reconstitution studies. Thus, it is urgent to empower local and regional communities about the importance of peatland ecosystems both for the environment, for the socio-economy and for the quality of life of their populations, as well as for the planet.

Books

https://www.amazon.com.br/Peatlands-Southern-Espinha%C3%A7o-Mountain-Brazil-ebook/dp/B0C441NTD4/ref=monarch_sidesheet

(2022) Mariam Akhtar-Schuster,Lindsay C. Stringer, Graciela Metternicht, Nichole N. Barger, Jean-Luc Chotte and German Kust
Assessing the Impact of Science in the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

In 2013, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) established a science–policy interface (SPI) to address Parties’ need for demand-driven, timely, interdisciplinary science and technical knowledge to tackle problems of desertification, land degradation and drought. Since then, a comprehensive assessment of the SPI’s impacts on policy decision-making has been lacking, despite perceptions that the SPI is vital to the Convention’s success. Addressing this gap, this paper evaluates whether the SPI and its processes and outputs have provided the necessary scientific and technological knowledge and advice to Parties to support timely, evidence-informed decision-making. It applies an analytical framework to assess performance metrics, considering associated documents and evidence of societal relevance and social quality. The findings indicate that SPI outputs have improved implementation of the UNCCD since 2015, particularly in the context of Sustainable Development Goal Target 15.3. SPI outputs have supported scientific cooperation between the Convention and its strategic partners while enhancing its science and technology profile in line with Article 16 and Article 17. The findings indicate that further formalization of the SPI’s status within the UNCCD is vital to improve its functions, undertake its work, and enable the UNCCD to maintain its global lead in providing knowledge and advice on combating desertification, land degradation and drought.

Abstract: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/568

PDF Version: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/568/pdf

Publication in Journal

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/568

(2021) United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
GAR Special Report on Drought 2021

Droughts have deep, widespread and underestimated impacts on societies, ecosystems, and economies. They incur costs that are borne disproportionately by the most vulnerable people.  The extensive impacts of drought are consistently underreported even though they span large areas, cascade through systems and scales, and linger through time, affecting millions of people and contributing to food insecurity, poverty, and inequality. Climate change is increasing temperatures and disrupting rainfall patterns, increasing the frequency, severity, and duration of droughts in many regions across the globe.  As we move towards a 2˚C warmer world, urgent action is required to better understand and more effectively manage drought risk to reduce the devastating toll on human lives and livelihoods, and ecosystems.

The GAR Special Report on Drought 2021 explores the systemic nature of drought and its impacts on achievement of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the SDGs and human and ecosystems health and wellbeing.

The report is available for download here.

The GAR Special Report on Drought 2021 was published by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
The GAR Special Report on Drought 2021 explores the systemic nature of drought and its impacts on achievement of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the SDGs and human and ecosystems health and wellbeing.

Report

https://www.undrr.org/publication/gar-special-report-drought-2021

(2021) World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
State of the Global Climate 2020

WMO-No. 1264

Publication in Journal

https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=21880&fbclid=IwAR3dguyzQBe9kgxrFg8zdQvM5jal9NxWMNq2f5QH57O7b5PWwqLShC4CxMY#.YIqIay0RrjDhttps://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=21880&fbclid=IwAR3dguyzQBe9kgxrFg8zdQvM5jal9NxWMNq2f5QH5

(2020) Hoover, D. L., B. Bestelmeyer, N. B. Grimm, T. E. Huxman, S. C. Reed, O. Sala, T. R. Seastedt, H. Wilmer & S. Ferrenberg
Traversing the Wasteland: A Framework for Assessing Ecological Threats to Drylands.

Bioscience, 70, 35-47.

Publication in Journal

https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz126

(2020) Eldridge, D. J., M. Delgado-Baquerizo, J. L. Quero, V. Ochoa, B. Gozalo, P. Garcia-Palacios, C. Escolar, M. Garcia-Gomez, A. Prina, M. A. Bowker, D. E. Bran, I. Castro, A. Cea, M. Derak, C. I. Espinosa, A. Florentino, J. J. Gaitan, G. Gatica, S. Gomez-Gonzalez, W. Ghiloufi, J. R. Gutierrez, E. Guzman-Montalvan, R. M. Hernandez, F. M. Hughes, W. Muino, J. Monerris, A. Ospina, D. A. Ramirez, Y. A. Ribas-Fernandez, R. L. Romao, C. Torres-Diaz, T. B. Koen & F. T. Maestre
Surface indicators are correlated with soil multifunctionality in global drylands

Journal of Applied Ecology, 57, 424-435.

Publication in Journal

https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13540

(2020) Cao, W., Y. X. Xiong, D. G. Zhao, H. Y. Tan & J. J. Qu
Bryophytes and the symbiotic microorganisms, the pioneers of vegetation restoration in karst rocky desertification areas in southwestern China.

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 104, 873-891.

Publication in Journal

https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00253-019-10235-0

(2019) Garau, M., Garau, G., Diquattro, S., Roggero, P. P., & Castaldi, P.
Mobility, bioaccessibility and toxicity of potentially toxic elements in a contaminated soil treated with municipal solid waste compost

Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 186, 109766.

Publication in Journal

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.109766

(2019) Chotte, J.L., Aynekulu, E., Cowie, A., Campbell, E., Vlek, P., Lal, R., Kapović-Solomun, M., von Maltitz, G., Kust, G., Barger, N., Vargas, R. & S. Gastrow
Realising the Carbon Benefits of Sustainable Land Management Practices

Guidelines for Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon in the Context of Land Degradation Neutrality Planning and Monitoring. A report of the Science-Policy Interface. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Bonn, Germany.

Publication in Journal

https://knowledge.unccd.int/sites/default/files/2019 10/191016_EN_UNCCD_SPI_2019_Report_1_1_Web.pdf

(2019) Branch, O. & V. Wulfmeyer
Deliberate enhancement of rainfall using desert plantations

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116, 18841-18847.

Publication in Journal

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904754116

(2019) Akuno, M. H., Nocella, G., Milia, E. P., & Gutierrez, L.
Factors influencing the relationship between fluoride in drinking water and dental fluorosis

Factors influencing the relationship between fluoride in drinking water and dental fluorosis: a ten-year systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Water and Health, 17(6), 845-862.

Publication in Journal

https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2019.300

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