Desert ecogeomorphology

Abstract

Previous reviews have suggested that the rocircle of vegetation has often been given scant regard in the understanding of dryland geomorphology (Francis, 1994; Bullard, 1997). Bullard (1997) emphasized the landmark collections of papers in Viles (1988), Thornes (1990a) and Millington and Pye (1994) as reflecting a turning point in geomorphological perspectives, that is further emphasized by the 118 papers recorded in the ISI database since 1990 (but none before) up to mid-2007 which deal explicitly with the topic in some way. While it is untrue to suggest that work on the subject was not carried out before the 1980s - for example, Bryan (1928), Cooke and Reeves (1976), Hadley (1961), Huntington (1914), Melton (1965), Rempel (1936) and White (1969) - what has changed is the framework in which such research is carried out in dryland environments. This change is two-fold. First, geomorphologists have more explicitly recognized the need to incorporate a consideration of vegetation and, more broadly, ecosystems into their research designs. Secondly, ecologists have equally perceived the need for a more explicit evaluation of geomorphic and related hydrologic processes in order to be able to understand vegetation and ecosystem patterning. © 2009 Springer Netherlands.