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Sandwiched between an encroaching Sahara and a warming Mediterranean Sea, Tunisia has seen a sharp drop in rainfall over the past half century—a trend experts say will likely intensify in the coming decades. Indeed, over the course of this century parts of North Africa as well as the Middle East might become uninhabitable, according to the German research and policy organization, the Max Planck…

Twenty-first-century political crises stretching from Europe to the Middle East and the Asia—Pacific have undermined the worldview that governed post-Cold War western thinking about a liberal end of history. This worldview assumed that shared norms and transnational institutions would transform the state based-order. In this context, the use of force is considered appropriate only for…

Dryland soils have the potential to be large atmospheric carbon (C) sinks, thus aiding in managing global warming. In these areas, soil micro-organisms found in biological soil crusts (biocrusts) can play a major role in C cycling, especially by influencing the fluxes between the atmosphere and soil; however, their potential has been reduced due to degradation. Thus, we assessed how inoculating…

This study focuses on soil physical aspects of soil quality and health with the objective to define procedures with worldwide rather than only regional applicability, reflecting modern developments in soil physical and agronomic research and addressing important questions regarding possible effects of soil degradation and climate change. In contrast to water and air, soils cannot, even after much…