- Email: [email protected]
Atlas of Mediterranean Environments in Europe: The Desertification Context;
84
Book reviews / Applied Geography 20 (2000) 83–93
here that would be useful to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Perhaps the publishers should seriously consider producing a paperback, standard-size version, which would both greatly enhance the accessibility of the material and also more fully justify the considerable effort which is inevitably involved in producing such a book. Tony Binns School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex 0143-6228/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 4 3 - 6 2 2 8 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 1 9 - 3
Atlas of Mediterranean Environments in Europe: The Desertification Context; P. Mairota, J. B. Thornes and N. Gleeson; Wiley, Chichester (1998), 205 pp. £215.00 hardback This large-format book originates from the MEDALUS project which was funded under the Environment Programme of the European Commission. Although this provides its starting point, the book is broader than an atlas of the physical aspects of desertification, encompassing ecology, socioeconomic processes, field and regional studies. It is also the most multi-authored book this reviewer has encountered, with 139 contributors (if correctly counted) and so by necessity this review is concerned with the generalities rather than specific chapters. Section 1 includes an introduction and a brief description of other EU-funded projects on desertification. Section 2 is far more in-depth, covering the modelling and process work undertaken as part of the MEDALUS programme. There are particularly useful contributions on remote sensing and modelling. Section 3 (socioeconomic processes and change) is a curious collection of short contributions ranging from evaluating landscape sensitivity using a semi-quantitative ranking-type procedure to descriptive pieces on past and present land use and agricultural change. None of these contributions seem to be integrated with the rest of the studies and there is no serious attempt to do any economic analysis, despite the crucial role of the economic environment in driving agricultural soil erosion both in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. Section 4 (field studies) presents a series of mini-papers summarizing the results of field studies which vary from soil, land use and climatic descriptions to more sophisticated rainfall–runoff monitoring. The last section (results and prospects) is surprisingly short, presumably because it is not obvious how one individual could summarize either the project or the volume contents. There are several reasons why this is a difficult volume to read and use. One flows from its origins; it feels as if each chapter not only uses different techniques and approaches but also concerns a completely different location; remote sensing in Spain is followed by climate change in Central Italy, and so on. This is of course partially
Book reviews / Applied Geography 20 (2000) 83–93
85
offset by the more integrated regional studies section (section 5), but it does reconfirm the perceived characteristic of multinationally funded projects; i.e. they are geopolitical in all senses. This and the variation in modelling and monitoring sophistication also raises the obvious question: was the jam spread too thinly? Also, presumably flowing from the volume’s genesis, there are several quite surprising omissions, especially in the techniques area. For example, there is no mention of soil erosion rate estimation from radionuclides (e.g. caesium-137) which is surely a technique that could have been used to compare all the field sites. There is also little work on soil mineralogy, nutrients and possibly most significant of all, environmental economics: is Mediterranean desertification just an externality or an acceptable agricultural cost? Despite these reservations the volume is a very valuable source-book for Mediterranean desertification and the monitoring and modelling of erosion in semi-arid environments. It represents a brave attempt to tackle a broad question in both some depth and in a comprehensive manner; inevitably this shows up the gaps in our understanding, especially in erosion processes and the problems of scale. Also of value in this volume is the comprehensive bibliography, glossary and multi-language plant list. It is also superbly produced with many excellent colour photographs, diagrams and maps. Tony Brown Department of Geography, University of Exeter 0143-6228/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 4 3 - 6 2 2 8 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 2 0 - X
Land Degradation in Mediterranean Environments of the World: Nature and Extent, Causes and Solutions; Arthur C. Conacher and Maria Sala (eds); Wiley, Chichester (1998), 491 pp. With the ample literature on land degradation in areas affected by aridity or strongly seasonal rainfall, it is useful to bring together detailed information for areas that experience Mediterranean-type climates, thereby focusing on the similarities (and differences) that exist within this particular environment. This was the ambitious aim of the International Geographical Union Study Group on Erosion and Desertification in Regions of Mediterranean-Type Climate, which met in South Africa in 1994, but the book succeeds admirably. The book is split into three parts; part I includes a brief introduction to each area characterized by a Mediterranean-type environment. With 11 separate chapters contributed by 19 experts on their geographical areas of research, it would be easy for a plethora of different presentation formats to creep in. However, editorial control has been tightly applied and a set template has been adhered to, resulting in a uniform
Book reviews / Applied Geography 20 (2000) 83–93
here that would be useful to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Perhaps the publishers should seriously consider producing a paperback, standard-size version, which would both greatly enhance the accessibility of the material and also more fully justify the considerable effort which is inevitably involved in producing such a book. Tony Binns School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex 0143-6228/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 4 3 - 6 2 2 8 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 1 9 - 3
Atlas of Mediterranean Environments in Europe: The Desertification Context; P. Mairota, J. B. Thornes and N. Gleeson; Wiley, Chichester (1998), 205 pp. £215.00 hardback This large-format book originates from the MEDALUS project which was funded under the Environment Programme of the European Commission. Although this provides its starting point, the book is broader than an atlas of the physical aspects of desertification, encompassing ecology, socioeconomic processes, field and regional studies. It is also the most multi-authored book this reviewer has encountered, with 139 contributors (if correctly counted) and so by necessity this review is concerned with the generalities rather than specific chapters. Section 1 includes an introduction and a brief description of other EU-funded projects on desertification. Section 2 is far more in-depth, covering the modelling and process work undertaken as part of the MEDALUS programme. There are particularly useful contributions on remote sensing and modelling. Section 3 (socioeconomic processes and change) is a curious collection of short contributions ranging from evaluating landscape sensitivity using a semi-quantitative ranking-type procedure to descriptive pieces on past and present land use and agricultural change. None of these contributions seem to be integrated with the rest of the studies and there is no serious attempt to do any economic analysis, despite the crucial role of the economic environment in driving agricultural soil erosion both in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. Section 4 (field studies) presents a series of mini-papers summarizing the results of field studies which vary from soil, land use and climatic descriptions to more sophisticated rainfall–runoff monitoring. The last section (results and prospects) is surprisingly short, presumably because it is not obvious how one individual could summarize either the project or the volume contents. There are several reasons why this is a difficult volume to read and use. One flows from its origins; it feels as if each chapter not only uses different techniques and approaches but also concerns a completely different location; remote sensing in Spain is followed by climate change in Central Italy, and so on. This is of course partially
Book reviews / Applied Geography 20 (2000) 83–93
85
offset by the more integrated regional studies section (section 5), but it does reconfirm the perceived characteristic of multinationally funded projects; i.e. they are geopolitical in all senses. This and the variation in modelling and monitoring sophistication also raises the obvious question: was the jam spread too thinly? Also, presumably flowing from the volume’s genesis, there are several quite surprising omissions, especially in the techniques area. For example, there is no mention of soil erosion rate estimation from radionuclides (e.g. caesium-137) which is surely a technique that could have been used to compare all the field sites. There is also little work on soil mineralogy, nutrients and possibly most significant of all, environmental economics: is Mediterranean desertification just an externality or an acceptable agricultural cost? Despite these reservations the volume is a very valuable source-book for Mediterranean desertification and the monitoring and modelling of erosion in semi-arid environments. It represents a brave attempt to tackle a broad question in both some depth and in a comprehensive manner; inevitably this shows up the gaps in our understanding, especially in erosion processes and the problems of scale. Also of value in this volume is the comprehensive bibliography, glossary and multi-language plant list. It is also superbly produced with many excellent colour photographs, diagrams and maps. Tony Brown Department of Geography, University of Exeter 0143-6228/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 4 3 - 6 2 2 8 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 2 0 - X
Land Degradation in Mediterranean Environments of the World: Nature and Extent, Causes and Solutions; Arthur C. Conacher and Maria Sala (eds); Wiley, Chichester (1998), 491 pp. With the ample literature on land degradation in areas affected by aridity or strongly seasonal rainfall, it is useful to bring together detailed information for areas that experience Mediterranean-type climates, thereby focusing on the similarities (and differences) that exist within this particular environment. This was the ambitious aim of the International Geographical Union Study Group on Erosion and Desertification in Regions of Mediterranean-Type Climate, which met in South Africa in 1994, but the book succeeds admirably. The book is split into three parts; part I includes a brief introduction to each area characterized by a Mediterranean-type environment. With 11 separate chapters contributed by 19 experts on their geographical areas of research, it would be easy for a plethora of different presentation formats to creep in. However, editorial control has been tightly applied and a set template has been adhered to, resulting in a uniform