Working on a current project, I was wondering if there were a large difference between the effect of (meteorological) droughts in mountain and plain regions. I am particularly interested here in possible negative effects on local farming and pastoralist production systems.
Any help on this point will be highly appreciated.
The deposition of top soil works with gravity. The flood plain which receives the sediment from above and below are the areas of increased ability to flourish under drought.
The ability of plants to deeply root can be associated with top soil depth. Deeoer the rooting more ability flourish during periods of drought. Unfortunately on the slopes and near a top of elevation the top soil level can be less and pressure from erosion is much greater.
These one two punches lessens the active root zone depth to capture water at the tops and on the slopes. Terraces can be helpful however.
In addition the flood plain ability to grow by capture of sedimentation they can also tap ground water is much greater near the surface at low elevation.
Since so much of our water is supplied by snow and ice pack the melting of these resources is alarming for the possibility of having inability for instance to supply California agriculture by irrigation due to lessening snow and ice pack under global warming. These same concerns are active for Himilayan areas that feed major river systems in India South East Asia.
Since water is the biggest constraint to whole food capacity the judicious and efficient use of it needs much more concern and development. One way of increasing this capacity is to manage agriculture systems to build soil organic matter which multiplies the capture and retention of water in the farming system.
Many of our prime agricultural systems have depleted their original soil organic matter by their management which does not value that resource. Our best system of crop insurance for drought is to focus on optimizing the content of soil organic matter and the active depth of top soils.
The hydrology of hills relative to sutending planes is sesitive to fast draining and limited capacity. vegetation cyclesand species composition may change. In any application you should analyse real situations for the same system at different heoghts. A reference can be patures in Alps with many citations in intro. http://www.biogeosciences.net/6/2525/2009/bg-6-2525-2009.pdf
The hydrology of hills relative to subtending planes is sensitive to fast draining and limited capacity. Vegetation cyclesand species composition may change. In any application you should analyse real situations for the same system at different heights
You may see Pastures in Alps intro. Sorry for keyboartd setting
I am not working directly to the issue. But this paper may be of some help.
Regards
Article Socio-ecological Vulnerability of Smallholders due to Climat...
Dear Adrien
You may see another paper also.
Regards
Article Agroecology as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Smal...
Article Empirical assessment of adaptation to climate change impact ...
The grazing systems can have tremendous impact on the net result of the agricultural system. Over grazing is a real issue as it stimulates a depletion of the core resource the soil. The agro-pastoral system must aim to improve and conserve the soil resource.
I have found in my own research in Tanzania that often mountain ecosystems can help people cope with drought easier because of the different microclimates around the mountains. For example, while there may not be pasture in the lower dryland areas during drought, the higher elevations may still provide some pasture for livestock.
I second Amy Quandt, and would add that it all depends if it is a transhumance pastoral system or not. Long distance mobile pastoral systems in mountains allow pastoralists to adjust their movement pace along the elevation gradient, and to stay longer at resting places in intermediary zones when conditions at lowland or upland are not optimal. Mobile pastoralists in mountains are likely to find more options to cope with drought than elsewhere, but this is not necessarily always true. Same applies to floods.
Usually this is the case, but there are plenty of exceptions and variations. Mountain areas are often classified as disadvantaged, vulnerable regions. This is in developed and developing countries the case.
https://www.usp.ac.fj/index.php?id=22667
Human and natural induced impacts can cause alteration in the structure and properties of mountain grasslands. If original vegetation cover and other natural resources are depleted, the livelihoods of inhabitants' in the mountain grassland areas could be more vulnerable to the effect of drought (Denbeshu et al., 2018).
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