Rangeland restoration in Jordan: Restoring vegetation cover by water harvesting measures
Restoration of the degraded rangelands in Jordan using mechanized water harvesting and native species planting has become key to enhancing and maintaining the productivity and resilience of fragile ecosystems. A balanced interaction between the rangeland's hydrology and vegetation states is vit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2022-12-01
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| Series: | International Soil and Water Conservation Research |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633922000223 |
| _version_ | 1797281832955281408 |
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| author | Mira Haddad Stefan Martin Strohmeier Kossi Nouwakpo Omar Rimawi Mark Weltz Geert Sterk |
| author_facet | Mira Haddad Stefan Martin Strohmeier Kossi Nouwakpo Omar Rimawi Mark Weltz Geert Sterk |
| author_sort | Mira Haddad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Restoration of the degraded rangelands in Jordan using mechanized water harvesting and native species planting has become key to enhancing and maintaining the productivity and resilience of fragile ecosystems. A balanced interaction between the rangeland's hydrology and vegetation states is vital for achieving long-term sustainability. To gain a better insight into the impact of restoration on surface runoff and erosion and its role in recovering the ecosystem functions, we used the Rangeland Hydrological and Erosion Model (RHEM) to simulate various vegetation scenarios. Our research aims to understand the rangelands' water and sediment dynamics and the vegetation transition states of the ecosystem through evaluating the current (degraded) situation, assess the restoration approach on improving the degraded status (restored), and investigate the long-term sustainability of the restoration approach compared with historical rangeland conditions (baseline). Several scenarios were developed with rangeland experts, local community representatives, and measurements at protected and restored areas to represent the rangeland conditions. We found that restoration of the degraded Badia areas will decrease annual surface runoff from an average of 23.5 to 19.1 mm/year and soil erosion rate from 3.3 to 1.3 tons/ha. With time, restoration can bring back rangeland water and sediment dynamics closer towards the baseline conditions, which were 16.9 mm/year runoff rates and 0.85 ton/ha/year soil loss. The results indicate that restoration is a promising methodology to restore the degraded ecosystem and approximate the environment's historical hydrological regime. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T17:03:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a8205eccde114dbd9d65bfb904d75fd2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2095-6339 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T17:03:08Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Soil and Water Conservation Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-a8205eccde114dbd9d65bfb904d75fd22024-03-03T03:05:35ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.International Soil and Water Conservation Research2095-63392022-12-01104610622Rangeland restoration in Jordan: Restoring vegetation cover by water harvesting measuresMira Haddad0Stefan Martin Strohmeier1Kossi Nouwakpo2Omar Rimawi3Mark Weltz4Geert Sterk5Restoration Initiative on Dryland Ecosystem, Resilient Agrosilvopastoral Systems (RASP), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman, Jordan; Geosciences, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Corresponding author. Amman Jerash Road, Baqa'a, Balqa, P.O.Box: 950764, Amman, 11195, Jordan.Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, Institute of Soil Physics and Rural Water Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, AustriaNorthwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Agriculture Research Service (ARS), United States Department for Agriculture (USDA), Kimberly, ID, USADepartment of Applied and Environmental Geology, Faculty of Science, The University of Jordan, Amman, JordanGreat Basin Rangelands Research, Agriculture Research Service (ARS), United State Department for Agriculture (USDA), Reno, NV, USAGeosciences, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the NetherlandsRestoration of the degraded rangelands in Jordan using mechanized water harvesting and native species planting has become key to enhancing and maintaining the productivity and resilience of fragile ecosystems. A balanced interaction between the rangeland's hydrology and vegetation states is vital for achieving long-term sustainability. To gain a better insight into the impact of restoration on surface runoff and erosion and its role in recovering the ecosystem functions, we used the Rangeland Hydrological and Erosion Model (RHEM) to simulate various vegetation scenarios. Our research aims to understand the rangelands' water and sediment dynamics and the vegetation transition states of the ecosystem through evaluating the current (degraded) situation, assess the restoration approach on improving the degraded status (restored), and investigate the long-term sustainability of the restoration approach compared with historical rangeland conditions (baseline). Several scenarios were developed with rangeland experts, local community representatives, and measurements at protected and restored areas to represent the rangeland conditions. We found that restoration of the degraded Badia areas will decrease annual surface runoff from an average of 23.5 to 19.1 mm/year and soil erosion rate from 3.3 to 1.3 tons/ha. With time, restoration can bring back rangeland water and sediment dynamics closer towards the baseline conditions, which were 16.9 mm/year runoff rates and 0.85 ton/ha/year soil loss. The results indicate that restoration is a promising methodology to restore the degraded ecosystem and approximate the environment's historical hydrological regime.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633922000223 |
| spellingShingle | Mira Haddad Stefan Martin Strohmeier Kossi Nouwakpo Omar Rimawi Mark Weltz Geert Sterk Rangeland restoration in Jordan: Restoring vegetation cover by water harvesting measures International Soil and Water Conservation Research |
| title | Rangeland restoration in Jordan: Restoring vegetation cover by water harvesting measures |
| title_full | Rangeland restoration in Jordan: Restoring vegetation cover by water harvesting measures |
| title_fullStr | Rangeland restoration in Jordan: Restoring vegetation cover by water harvesting measures |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rangeland restoration in Jordan: Restoring vegetation cover by water harvesting measures |
| title_short | Rangeland restoration in Jordan: Restoring vegetation cover by water harvesting measures |
| title_sort | rangeland restoration in jordan restoring vegetation cover by water harvesting measures |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633922000223 |
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