Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41204040›Full record

ArticleAmbio2026

Rethinking desert definitions: Bridging the gap between science, policy, and conservation.

Amir Lewin, Gopal Murali, Uri Roll, Troy Sternberg, Shimon Rachmilevitch

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Ambio, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Amir LewinFrench Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 849900, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel. amirlewin@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9948-9640
Gopal MuraliDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
Uri RollMitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 8499000, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.
Troy SternbergSchool of Geography, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK.
Shimon RachmilevitchFrench Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 849900, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Deserts are often misperceived as desolate, non-productive landscapes. This perception contributes to the misuse of terms like 'semiarid' and 'desertification', creating ambiguity in how deserts are defined and geographically delineated. Such conceptual confusion can hinder effective policy by obscuring what constitutes a desert and where they occur. We identify key incongruencies between climatic and ecological approaches to classifying deserts, revealing nearly 12 million km

Indexed as

Conservation of Natural ResourcesDesert ClimateEnvironmental PolicyEcosystemDesert classificationsDesertificationDrylandsLand degradationPolicy implicationsScientific communication

Identifiers

PMID41204040
PMCPMC12961036

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.