Land Degradation in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions: From Assessment and Climate Impacts to Restoration and Land Degradation Neutrality

Land degradation in arid and semi-arid regions poses a major challenge to food security, water availability, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience. Climate change, unsustainable land-use practices, soil erosion, water scarcity, salinization, and vegetation degradation have accelerated the decline of land productivity, highlighting the need for integrated and science-based restoration strategies. Addressing these challenges requires multidisciplinary approaches that combine advances in soil and water conservation, sustainable agricultural practices, ecosystem restoration, and emerging technologies.This Research Topic aims to bring together cutting-edge research on innovative methods for assessing, monitoring, conserving, and restoring degraded landscapes in dryland ecosystems. It welcomes studies integrating field observations with remote sensing, GIS, UAVs, Earth observation, artificial intelligence, and geospatial modelling to improve land degradation assessment and support evidence-based decision-making. Contributions focusing on agroforestry, horticultural interventions, conservation agronomy, watershed management, biotechnology, soil microbiology, nature-based solutions, and climate-resilient land management are particularly encouraged.We invite original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and case studies that advance scientific understanding and provide practical solutions for achieving sustainable land management and land degradation neutrality in arid and semi-arid regions.Potential topics include, but are not limited to:• Land degradation assessment, monitoring, and mapping• Soil erosion, sediment transport, and conservation practices• Soil and water conservation technologies and watershed management• Remote sensing, GIS, UAVs, AI, and machine learning applications• Agroforestry and horticultural systems for degraded land restoration• Conservation agriculture and sustainable agronomic practices• Soil health, soil microbiology, biofertilizers, and biotechnological tools• Carbon sequestration and ecosystem service assessment• Rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, and water-use efficiency• Nature-based solutions and ecological restoration• Climate change adaptation and resilience in dryland ecosystems• Land degradation neutrality, sustainable land management, and policy innovations Topic editors: Deepak Singh, Kripa Shankar, Rituraj Shukla Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86812/land-degradation-in-arid-and-semi-arid-regions-from-assessment-and-climate-impacts-to-restoration-and-land-degradation-neutrality