On herding sheep and climbing sand dunes: We gotta' keep saying it (but listening too).

Spontaneous natural regeneration under variable conditions on sandy soils and continental sand dunes were analysed in 5 locations in N.E. Belgium. The number of seedlings varies between 14.000 and 522.000/ha. The most prominent invading species are red oak, pedunculate oak and Scots pine. Two principal types of regeneration are recognized : homogeneous groups of oak or pine and mixtures, predominantly composed by the same species. Pioneers such as birch, willow, white poplar and wild black cherry do not play an important role. Social differentiation sets in quite early and is mainly provoked by age differences. Therefore early silvicultural intervention is advisable. The growth relationships between the species indicate that Scots pine is not in danger of spontaneous elemination by other species. Because of the density and variability of spontaneous forest regeneration, the conversion of pure pine stands into mixed forest, using group regeneration to this end, poses no real technical problems.

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ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECTS TO SAND DUNES ON BARRIER ISLANDS: BRAZOS SANTIAGO PASS AND PORT MANSFIELD PASS, SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX

10.1130/abs/2016am-287369 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Romeo R. Rubiano ◽

◽

Andrew Atkinson ◽

Elizabeth A. Heise

Keyword(s):

Sand Dunes ◽

Barrier Islands ◽

Anthropogenic Effects ◽

Padre Island

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GSA QUATERNARY GEOLOGY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY DIVISION FAROUK EL-BAZ AWARD FOR DESERT RESEARCH: ECO-GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES ACTING ON DESERT SAND DUNES

10.1130/abs/2017am-295215 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Haim Tsoar ◽

Keyword(s):

Sand Dunes ◽

Quaternary Geology ◽

Desert Sand ◽

Geomorphic Processes ◽

Desert Research

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SAND DUNES ON TITAN AND PLUTO AS REVEALED BY REMOTE SENSING MORPHOLOGICAL AND FIELD ANALOGUES

10.1130/abs/2018am-324794 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jani Radebaugh ◽

◽

Matt Telfer ◽

Ralph Lorenz ◽

Jason W. Barnes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Sand Dunes

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Landscape Design as a Tool to Reduce Soil Salinization: The Study Case of Keriya Oasis (NW China)

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11092578 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 2578

Author(s):

Jumeniyaz Seydehmet ◽

Guang-Hui Lv ◽

Abdugheni Abliz

Keyword(s):

Traditional Knowledge ◽

Land Reclamation ◽

Sand Dunes ◽

Soil Salinization ◽

Landscape Design ◽

Adaptive Landscape ◽

Farmland Abandonment ◽

Landscape Characteristics ◽

Geological Conditions ◽

Water Logging

Irrational use and management of water and land are associated with poor hydro-geological conditions causing water logging and salinization problems, possibly leading to farmland abandonment and economic loss. This poses a great challenge to the sustainability of oasis’ and requires desalinization through reasonable landscape design by multiple crossing studies so we collected traditional knowledge by field interviews and literature schemes, except for the modern desalinization approaches by literature, and we found that the salinization problem has been solved by traditional land reclamation, traditional drainage, natural drainage and flood irrigation, locally. It is worth mentioning that the traditional reclamation in salinized areas requires flood water, sand dunes and a salinized pit area; the sand dunes are used to elevate the pit surface, and water is used to leach salt from the soil. Natural drainage (the depth and width are 4–10 m and 50–100 m, respectively) caused by flash flooding has significant benefits to some salinized villages in the range of 3000–5000 m and ancient groundwater drainage systems, such as Karez are supporting the oasis with drainage water for centuries. In addition landscape characteristics, salinization and hydro-geological conditions of the oasis were studied from Landsat image, DEM, literature and field photos. Then based on the gathered information above, a desalinization model was developed to decrease the groundwater table and salt leaching in the water logging landscape. Then according to landscape characteristics, different desalinization approaches were recommended for different landscapes. To address environmental uncertainties, an adaptive landscape management and refinement approach was developed, and acceptance of the model was validated by stakeholder opinion. The results provide guidelines for sustainable desalinization design and highlight the importance of combining traditional knowledge and modern ecological principles in sustainable landscape design.

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