Solving the Rangeland Paradox
Posted by Jimalakirti in Climate Change
at 11:09 am on Sunday, 7 March 2010
at 11:09 am on Sunday, 7 March 2010
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/03/solving-the-rangeland-paradox.html?etoc
They have a saying in Texas: We don’t have a water problem, we have a brush problem. The idea is that when shrubs and trees invade former grazing lands, they soak up so much groundwater that streams slow down and water supplies to cities and towns decrease. But a new study suggests that the opposite is true: Trees and shrubs on the prairies may actually help recharge the groundwater. The findings should force a rethink of land-management techniques for much of the U.S.’s former rangelands.
(ScienceNow, March 4, 2010)