he Preliminary Study of Anthropogenic and NaturalDrivers of Desertification in Drylands of South Punjab, Pakistan

International Journal of Economic and Environment Geology

Nausheen Mazhar, Safdar Ali Shirazi¹ 

[1] Department of Geography, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan. Department of Geography, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, UK;

关键词: perceptions;    climate extremes;    desertification;    drylands;    land degradation;   

DOI  :  https://doi.org/10.46660/ijeeg.Vol11.Iss1.2020.420

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This study aims to investigate the perceptions of farmers residing in the drylands of south Punjab regarding thedriversofdesertificationmainlyassociatedwithmeteorologicalandanthropogenicfactors.Datasetof399 respondents was collected using disproportionate stratified sampling technique from Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Rajanpurdistricts. Pearsoncorrelationandcrosstabulationwereperformedtoexplorerelationbetweenvariables. SimpleLinearRegression(SLR)helpedininvestigating theassociationbetween natural and anthropogeniccausesof desertification. The findings of this study indicate the significant variability in natural causes of desertification such as increasingtemperatureextremes,soilsalinizationandvariationin rainfallpatterns,whileextensive landdegradation, causedbyanthropogenic factor, as leading to desertification in the study area.For Rajanpur, mean rainfall variation, supportstheperceptionregardingmajornaturaldriverofdesertification.Small-scalefarmerswerefoundtobemost vulnerabletoclimaticextremes.SLRconcludedthatanthropogenicfactorstriggerorintensifythenaturaldriversof desertification in the study area. Useful insights are provided regarding the perceptions of the local farming community regarding causes of desertification as appropriate perception of a risk leads to fruitful adaptation measures.

【 授权许可】

Unknown