Facing the Desertification Challenge in a Climatically Fluctuating World

Abstract

Semi-arid ecosystems can show distinct vegetation alternative states. In many regions. excessive biomass removal (e.g. by wood harvesting, or overgrazing) has resulted in depletion of vegetation biomass and soil erosion. These changes are very'difficult to reverse due to the positive feedbacks that stabilize the degraded situation. Here I brietly present a restoration hypothesis suggesting that climatic oscillations such as El Nino Southern Oscillation (EN SO) could be used in combination with controlled grazing to restore degraded arid ecosystems. This idea is currently being tested in Latin America