Dryland vegetation dynamics seminar at HOORC

Image from NASA's Earth Observatory site

Today, Dr Robert Washington-Allen, who was visiting HOORC from the University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Science, led a seminar, Empirical Evidence for Bistability and Catastrophic Change in Dryland Vegetation Dynamics. A point made in the seminar is that climatic and vegetation changes are inevitable -- the key is to plan for effective management of the resources affected. You can find the abstract of Dr Washington-Allen's Retrospective Monitoring of Drylands for Bistability and Catastrophic Regime Shifts online. Dr Washington-Allen is involved in a research project on the vegetation dynamics of the Kalahari Transect. In HOORC's Library, you can find The Kalahari Transect: research on global change and sustainable development in Southern Africa and Ecosystems and human well-being : desertification synthesis : a report of the millennium ecosystem assessment.