Modelling Semiarid Water-Soil-Vegetation Systems

Water-soil-vegetation dynamic nexuses affect, and are affected by, both human activity and climate change. For a given area, inappropriate land management practices can result in soil and vegetation degradation, which in turn will likely alter natural hydrologic processes, leading to more frequent and severe flooding and drought. In response, altered hydrologic conditions tend to prompt soil erosion by wind and water, which in turn can cause further vegetation degradation or even loss. Such nexuses will likely become more interwoven in changing climates because the non-stationary climate can further deteriorate the already-altered hydrologic conditions. So far, our understanding is incomplete regarding how such nexuses maintain or break equilibriums between water, soil, and/or vegetation in terms of eco-environmental resilience.

This book will: 1) conceptualize the interrelated physical processes of water-soil�vegetation systems; 2) introduce mathematical models for simulating the processes; and 3) develop several modelling cases of selected systems across the world.