Landscape Dynamics of Drylands across Greater Central Asia: People, Societies and Ecosystems, 1st ed. 2020 Landscape Series, Vol. 17

This volume is a compilation of studies on interactions of changes in land cover, land use and climate with people, societies and ecosystems in drylands of Greater Central Asia. It explores the effects of collapse of socialist governance and management systems on land use in various parts of Central Asia, including former Soviet Union republics, Mongolia and northern drylands of China. Often, regional land-atmosphere feedbacks may have large global importance. Remote sensing is a primary tool in studying vast dryland territories where in situ observations are sporadic. State-of-the-art methods of satellite remote sensing combined with GIS and models are used to tackle science questions and provide an outlook of current changes at land surface and potential scenarios for the future. 

In 10 chapters, contributing authors cover topics such as water resources, effects of institutional changes on urban centers and agriculture, landscape dynamics, and the primary drivers of environmental changes in dryland environment. Satellite observations that have accumulated during the last five decades provide a rich time series of the dynamic land surface, enabling systematic analysis of changes in land cover and land use from space.

The book is a truly international effort by a team of scientists from the U.S., Europe and Central Asia. It is directed at the broad science community including graduate students, academics and other professionals at all levels within natural and social sciences. In particular, it will appeal to geographers, environmental and social scientists, economists, agricultural scientists, and remote sensing specialists.

Dr. Garik Gutman is a Program Manager for the NASA Land-Cover/Land-Use Change (LCLUC) Program. He received his Ph.D. in Climate Modeling in 1984, was a National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences Fellow at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and then worked there 14 years as a research scientist. His research focused on remote sensing of the Earth's land surface and atmosphere from space. In 1996, for developing an original technique using satellite data for reliable analyses of the Earth’s vegetation cover and its long-term variations, Dr. Gutman received the U.S. Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Award.

Dr. Jiquan Chen received his PhD in Ecosystem Analysis from University of Washington and is currently a professor at Michigan State University. He was a Bullard Fellow at Harvard University and on the faculty at Michigan Tech University and University of Toledo. He is broadly interested in ecosystem analysis, landscape ecology, conservation biology, biophysics, global change, land use, urban studies, and the sustainability of socioeconomic-ecological systems. He has conducted research on edge effects in fragmented landscapes, 3D canopy of forests, ecosystem carbon/water/energy fluxes, riparian zone management, agricultural and bioenergy crops, grassland (rangeland) ecology, dynamics of urban systems, and the role of institution in shaping landscape-regions under the changing globe. He is a fellow of the Ecological Society of America and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  He serves as the Editor-in-Chief for Ecological Processes, and the book series of Landscape Studies by Springer.

Dr. Geoffrey Henebry received his MS and PhD degrees in Environmental Sciences from The University of Texas at Dallas. He is a full professor in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences at Michigan State Univers

Comprehensively reviews dramatic land-use change across greater Central Asia

Covers environmental consequences of the collapse of socialist governance

Presents analysis of the dramatic changes in land uses triggered by an abrupt change in economies of the region and land management