The Impacts of Drought on Ecosystem Services and Livelihoods in the Global South

Dear Colleagues,

The recent UNCCD (2019) Report on Drought Impact and Vulnerability Assessment stated that the impacts that droughts have on livelihoods, economies, and ecosystems have been higher due to drought intensity and frequency. Drought has especially negative impacts on marginalized and vulnerable societies, particularly in the Global South, due to its socio-economic vulnerabilities. While risks of drought impacts may seem obvious, e.g., water scarcity, crop loss, and increases in disease outbreak, huge knowledge gaps remain in this arena, making anticipation of, and planning for, long-term impacts difficult.

In this Special Issue, we aim to provide a collection of papers that critically evaluates links between drought frequency and severity, ecosystem services and disservices, and associated impacts to livelihoods across terrestrial and coastal ecosystems in the Global South. Topics of interest include identification of the social actors most affected by droughts and whether drought impacts differ across social-ecological gradients, livelihoods, and ecosystems. Interest also extends to how different ecosystem service generation is affected by drought intensity and frequency as ecosystem stressors and the extent to which drought might generate disservices as ecosystem shocks. Future proofing of systems against the risk impacts of drought shocks and stressors is dependent on informed decision options that are, in turn, dependent on adequate empirical observations across social, economic, and environmental disciplines.

We consequently welcome manuscripts from across natural and social sciences, as well as cross-disciplinary studies, including in-depth case studies (place based), reviews (linked to case studies), studies that cross socio-ecological gradients, and case studies from urban, rural, and coastal environments (catchment-to-coast). In particular, we invite contributions based on studies in areas that have or are still experiencing sequential droughts.

Interested authors should submit abstracts to Guest Editors, Gladman Thondhlana (g.thondhlana@ru.ac.za), Sheunesu Ruwanza (s.ruwanza@ru.ac.za), and Elandrie Davoren (e.davoren@ru.ac.za) for assessment and approval before submitting full manuscripts. Authors are encouraged to submit their contributions as soon as possible, with abstracts being submitted prior to 30 October 2021 and the full manuscript by 30 December 2021.

Dr. Gladman Thondhlana
Dr. Sheunesu Ruwanza
Dr. Elandrie Davoren
Dr. Staffan Rosell
Dr. Andrea Belgrano
Prof. Dr. Regina Lindborg
Prof. Dr. Sheona Shackleton
Prof. Dr. Ken Findlay
Prof. James Gambiza
Guest Editors

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