Desertification

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Desertification is the change of a landscape with negative connotations to a steppe or steppe-like landscape, then referred to as "cultural steppe", through hydraulic engineering measures with lowering of the groundwater level or the removal of trees, shrubs or hedges with the consequent standardization of the landscape . More recently, landscape changes feared for the future as a result of anthropogenic climate change , for example in the state of Brandenburg , have been included under this catchphrase .

The expression goes back to the campaign pamphlet "The desertification of Germany" by the German landscape architect , nature conservationist and "Reichslandschaftanwalt" Alwin Seifert in 1936. He feared a lowering of the water level and water scarcity due to drainage and other measures , especially those used to ameliorate agriculture of the water engineers, resulting in the "... destruction of all the beauty of Germany, the assimilation of the infinitely rich and varied German landscapes to the desolate emptiness of the Russian or American steppes." The term remained in use in Germany in later years. It was and is hardly ever used in scientific contexts, and the direct English equivalent "steppification" has also remained uncommon. Common technical terms for the phenomenon would be devastation or desertification .

In the context of the technical debates on nature conservation, the term is mostly avoided today. This is because steppes or steppe-like habitats such as For example, dry grasslands represent habitat types rich in species, often positively rated by nature conservationists, which are actively promoted by nature conservationists. The negative attitude towards steppes promoted by the expression "desertification" is then considered to be an obstacle to the desired preservation of these landscapes. Corresponding remarks can be found in Austria (with natural occurrences of steppe vegetation) as early as the 1950s.

In recent times, the possible change in the landscapes of eastern northern Germany due to climate change has been discussed as "desertification". Although this term is avoided in the underlying study, it was found in most press releases.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matthias Schaefer: Ecology. Biology dictionaries. G. Fischer Verlag, 3rd edition 1992. UTB-Taschenbuch Nr. 430. ISBN 3-8252-0430-8
  2. ↑ Alwin Seifert: The desertification of Germany. Theodor Weicher, Leipzig. First published in 1936 in Deutsche Technik , 4, pp. 423-427 and pp. 490-492
  3. ↑ quoted from Thomas Potthast: Scientific Ecology and Nature Conservation: Scenes of an Approach. In: Joachim Radkau & Frank Uekötter (Hrsg.): Nature protection and National Socialism (history of nature and environmental protection). Campus-Verlag, 2003.
  4. ↑ cf. z. B. Karl Hillebrand: Pannonian dry grasslands in Austria: Spread and endangerment by humans. Grin Verlag, 2008. p.53: "The concept of desertification".
  5. ^ Gustav Wendelberger (1955): Karstung and desertification in Austria. Nature and Land 1955: 152- 153. download
  6. ↑ F.-W. Barley sheaf, F. Badeck, F. Hattermann, V. Krysanova, W. Lahmer, P. Lasch, M. Stock, F. Suckow, F. Wechsung, PC Werner Study on the climatic development in Brandenburg up to 2055 and its effect on the water balance , forestry and agriculture as well as the derivation of first perspectives. PIK Report No. 83. Potsdam, 2003. download
  7. ↑ z. B. Climate changes affect Berlin-Brandenburg: water shortage and desertification feared Article Berliner Zeitung, September 12, 1995 online archive

Web links