Fjölrit RALA - 05.12.1999, Qupperneq 121

RajivK. Sinha etal.
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Ecological regeneration through fencing and enclosures
The Thar desert shows tremendous resilience for regeneration when it is protected by
fences and enclosures for a certain period of time. A chain of long term enclosure has
been established by CAZRI and the State Forest Department on a variety of desert
habitats such as hills, rocky gravelly pediments, flat pediments, sandy undulating
pediments, flat aggraded older alluvial plains, sand dunes and shallow saline depres-
sions (see Tables 1 and 2). The recommended duration of protection is from 5 to 20
years. There is good growth of vegetation, both trees and grasses, upon protection.
Desertification is completely halted in such regions.
Table 1. The limits of natural regeneration of rangelands in various habitats of the Thar Desert.
(Source: K.A. Shankarnarayanan in Ishwar Prakash (ed.) 1988, Desert Ecology).
Duration of
Distríct Rainfall (mm) Desert Habitats Soil texture protection (in years) Grass cover
Pali 450 HiII Gravelly 10 Chrysopogen fulvus
Jodhpur 250 Hill (top) Gravelly 20 Aristida, Dropstium
Jodhpur 250 Hill (slope) Gravelly 20 Aristida, depressa
Jodhpur 250 Hill (base) Gravelly 18 Eleusine compressa
Jodhpur 250 Flat-buried loamy pediments Loamy 18 Dichanthium, Cenchrus
Pali 450 Loamy pediments Loamy 20 Ermopogon, Aristida
Bikaner 450 Loamy pediments Loamy 20 Cenchrus, Aristida
Jaisalmer 150 Sandy undulating buried pediments Sandy 18 Lasiurus sindicus
Pali 150 Flat aggraded older alluvial plain Clay loam 18 Cenchrus spp. Zizyphus
Sirohi 450 Flat aggraded older alluvial plain Clay loam 18 Dichanthium annulatum Acacia nilotica
Barmer 200 Sandy undulating aggraded older alluvial plain Sandy 18 Cenchrus spp.
Bikaner 250 Sandy undulating aggraded older alluvial plain Sandy 20 Lasiurus sindicus Cymbopogon, Cenchrus
Sikar 450 Sandy undulating Sandy 18 Cenchrus
Bikaner 250 Sand dune (slope) Sandy 20 Aristida, Cenchrus
Bikaner 250 Sand dune (slope) Sandy 20 Aristida
Bikaner 250 Sand dune (slope) Sandy 20 Panicum antidotale
Jodhpur 250 Shallow Clay loam 20 Sporobolus marginatus