Biostabilization of soils as sustainable pathway for anti-desertification: Present and future perspectives

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Desertification is a growing concern worldwide; mainly in drylands, arid/semi-arid regions, sloping terrains and the coastal areas. It poses significant threat for developing resilient rural, urban and coastal infrastructure, and preserving land/forest/coastal biodiversity and ecosystem. Desertification could result from loss of soil fertility, soil erosion due to heavy and variable rainfall events, salinization, wind erosion, deforestation, overgrazing of vegetation, burning of agricultural residue, natural disasters such as floods, droughts, landslides and forest fires, or changes in land use patterns. Anti-desertification (viz., controlling further desertification and in some cases reversal of desertification process) can be achieved by construction of bunds across water flow (erosion control), underground cutoff walls (control of salinization), afforestation activities, providing grass turfs, coupled with soil stabilization techniques. Anti-desertification on a large scale would require implementation of sustainable and natural strategies to prevent land degradation due to erosion, water logging, or salinization. In this context, the present paper reviews in detail the existing state-of-the-art and discusses the different proven and emerging biostabilization strategies/approaches/methods, that can be combined to serve as sustainable pathways for achieving anti-desertification, an important step towards developing resilient infrastructure.