U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home News & Events News Articles Research News 2007





- ARS News & Events
- AgResearch Magazine
- Image Gallery
- News
- Search News & Events
- Pesticide Drift May Endanger Pollinators
- ARS Seeks a Fire Ant Fix
- Scientific Discoveries 2024
- ARS Featured Photos
- Down on the Farm
- Facebook Live Events
- Food and Nutrition Research Briefs
- News Archive
- Science in Your Shopping Cart
- Scientific Discoveries
- Social Media
- Under the Microscope
- AgResearch magazine
- ARS at Work
- ARS Memorial Lectures
- ARS Science Hall of Fame
- Citrus Disease (Huanglongbing)
- Contact Office of Communications
- Plant Hardiness Zone Map
- Mobile Apps
- Public Affairs Contacts
- Publications and Other Resources
- USDA Blog
- Videos

Archived Page
 This page has been archived and is being provided for reference purposes only. The page is no longer being updated, and therefore, links on the page may be invalid.
 Grassland-shrub savanna characteristic of the northern Chihuahuan Desert on the 193,000-acre Jornada Experimental Range. Click the image for more information about it.For further reading
The science of predicting catastrophe
Desert lab for the world
Spying global warming in the desert?
Protecting the nation's rangeland A Framework for Building New Desert Science Don Comis  Agricultural Research Service rangeland scientist Jeff Herrick has joined with scientists from around the world to develop a template for a new desertification science that incorporates human as well as biological and physical dimensions. Herrick is at the ARS Jornada Experimental Range near Las Cruces, N.M. The experimental range includes 193,000 acres of rangeland in the Chihuahuan Desert. Herrick and colleagues in environmental and social sciences from around the world have written a paper on the subject entitled "Global Desertification: Building a Science for Dryland Development." It was published earlier this month in Science magazine. The researchers introduced the Drylands Development Paradigm (DDP), named for a 2001 workshop in Berlin, Germany, from which the original framework for solutions to desertification was developed. Two of the principles of this framework have guided ARS work at the Jornada for many years: that slow variables determine what happens on arid lands, and that these slow variables are often associated with tipping points or thresholds that, if crossed, can rapidly lead to irreversible change. Experience at the Jornada taught Herrick that arid regions work on "desert time," in which recovery is often initiated by rare events, like unusually large rainstorms. One of the ways this knowledge can be used is by staking seed-filled plastic pipes in dry rills. When rain comes, runoff flows through the pipe, depositing seeds under a layer of litter “mulch” and beginning the slow process of vegetation recovery. Experience also taught Herrick that natural ecological processes dictate that once a threshold—such as too much weedy brush growth—is reached, it can be very difficult to reverse. Part of the DDP involves integrating local and scientific knowledge to anticipate thresholds long before they are reached, while they still can be reversed. It is a framework for actions to support the United Nations' efforts to combat desertification worldwide, recognizing that about 250 million people in the developing world live in arid lands with some form of severe land degradation. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.


Return to top


Research
                            Media
                            About ARS
                            Work With Us


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov