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Since the turn of the millennium various scientific publications have been discussing a re-greening of the Sahel after the 1980s drought mainly based on coarse-resolution satellite data. However, the author's own field studies suggest that the situation is far more complex and that both paradigms, the "encroaching Sahara" and the "re-greening Sahel", need to be questioned. This paper…

Thresholds of aridity Increasing aridity due to climate change is expected to affect multiple ecosystem structural and functional attributes in global drylands, which cover ∼45% of the terrestrial globe. Berdugo et al. show that increasing aridity promotes thresholds on the structure and functioning of drylands (see the Perspective by Hirota and Oliveira). Their database includes 20…

The United States is a world leader in the production of maize and other crops and the agricultural success of the country is directly linked to the intensive use of fertilizers and irrigation. However, even in advanced agricultural systems, soils can become degraded over time due to factors such as soil organic matter loss and erosion. Here, we use a series of scenario‐based model analyses to…

The article presents: The analysis of the spatial footprint of the multiple forms of land degradation in global arable lands. Geostatistical analyses on aridity, soil erosion, vegetation decline, soil salinization and soil organic carbon decline. Analysis of the simultaneous pressure of the five major degradation processes in arable systems. About 40%/20% of the…

The magnitude and urgency of the challenges facing agriculture and food systems demand profound modifications in different aspects of human activity to achieve real transformative change and sustainability. Recognizing that the inherent complexity of achieving sustainability is commonly seen as a deterrent to decision-making, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has…

Agroforestry and sustainable landscape management are key strategies for implementing the UN-Sustainable Development Goals across the world’s production landscapes. However, both strategies have so far been studied in isolation from each other. This editorial introduces a special feature dedicated to scrutinizing the role of agroforestry in sustainable landscape management strategies.