ICRISAT Archival Report 2006 - The seedlings of success in the ...

Project 8
Poverty alleviation and sustainable management of water, land, livestock and forest
resources, particularly at the desert margins of the Sahel and the drylands of ESA
(SSA Desert Margins Program SWEP)
System Priority 4: Poverty alleviation and sustainable management of water, land and forest resources
Priority 1b: Promoting conservation and characterization of under-utilized plant genetic resources to
increase the income of the poor
MTP Output Target 2006: Standardized data collection methods developed
Output 8A. Nine benchmark site characterization on the improved understanding of ecosystem dynamics
with regard to loss of biodiversity completed and synthesized by 2008
All the benchmark sites in the nine DMP participating countries have been characterized and a comprehensive and
detailed book is being prepared on this baseline study. The degree to which the characterization was carried out
varied from one country to another depending on the available expertise and the existing information from these
sites. Detailed and comprehensive data are available in the various reports by each country. In all the countries,
detailed lists of endemic and endangered species were prepared though the methodologies used were not uniform
across countries.
Some of the highlights of this work include:
• Building of a predictive understanding of desertification, including the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem
functionality in the study areas. There were differences in the depth and extent of output among countries.
Some were better studied than others before the DMP was initiated. However, and more importantly, a
greater understanding of desertification and its dynamics under different conditions and climatic regimes is
being developed through this multi-country approach
• Inventories of endemic species were collated to illustrate the vulnerability of the diversity of various forms
of plant and animal life; including soil biodiversity, fungi, higher plants, insects, birds and mammals.
Various indices were used to compare degraded vs. intact or less degraded areas. These activities have
also led to the identification of biological indicators (e.g. ants, birds, frogs, vegetation) that are used to
assess the degree of degradation and/or desertification. Such indicators are also invaluable in monitoring
the restoration of biodiversity under different land uses, e.g. commercial, communal, subsistence
agriculture, or conservation land management systems. Because of the ease of observation of birds as bioindicators,
they can be used as common-language indicators to relate cause and effect of environmental
degradation to extensionists, land users and managers. Unfortunately, often indices and in fact collection
methodologies are not consistent
• The enhancement of biodiversity gardens through the introduction of new grasses an shrub species; the
development of a biodiversity assessment manual; the development of field guides for local level
monitoring; the success and applicability of the EcoRestore Decision Support System; and the progress
made in the development of the C sequestration model for evaluating species potential for carbon trading
Improved understanding of ecosystem and dynamics with regard to loss of biodiversity (monitoring and
evaluation)
This component is aimed at improving knowledge about the physical processes leading to biodiversity loss in the
drylands, in particular the relative importance of human and climatic factors, the development of quantitative
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