CALEM

Center for Arid Lands Environmental Management

CALEM Focus Areas

Global climate change will likely increase over the next century and contribute to environmental stress in drylands in patterns and ways that are not well understood.

Changes in seasonal and annual temperature, precipitation, snowmelt and runoff, groundwater recharge, and evapotranspiration are occurring now and are predicted by many to continue in the future. In turn, these changes will impact the availability and timing of surface water runoff, storage capability of reservoirs, groundwater recharge, energy use, tourism, agriculture, land management, air quality, fire frequency and magnitude, and biodiversity and invasive species.

CALEM is developing interdisciplinary studies of the effects of climate change on landscapes, ecosystems, and water resources using a combination of regional climate modeling linked to ecosystem and hydrologic models. The results of these studies will be compared to past changes and used to provide decision makers with information that can be used to adapt to climate change. Initial studies will focus on the Great Basin and Nevada, but will establish methods and approaches that can be used in any dryland environment.

Urbanization in drylands

While not generally densely populated, the world's arid lands have some of the fastest population growth rates in the world, and are home to an increasingly urbanized population. As a result, cities in drylands are growing rapidly, giving rise to issues of water quantity and quality, air quality, and waste disposal.

CALEM is developing interdisciplinary research programs that will address issues of urban development in arid regions, including modeling of alternative future states, so that the effects of different policy and environmental scenarios can be evaluated to assist in decision making.

Desertification

The processes of desertification, involving complex interactions between human actions, climate, and ecosystem dynamics, pose challenges for sustainability in arid lands and the effective management of desert ecosystems worldwide.

Desertification causes losses to agricultural production, contributes to food insecurity, famine and poverty and can give rise to social, economic and political tensions that can cause conflicts, further impoverishment and land degradation.

CALEM continues to support the participation of DRI in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Committee of Experts.

Contact

Dr. Nick Lancaster (faculty web page)
775.673.7304
Nick.Lancaster@dri.edu