Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS), Universität Kassel, Steinstrasse 19, 37213, Witzenhausen, Germany.
The Research Council (TRC), PC130 Al-Athaiba, PO Box 1422, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
Sci Rep. 2021 Apr 8;11(1):7709. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-85515-9.
The millenia-old oasis systems in the Western Hajar Mountains of Northern Oman have received widespread attention as models of sustainable irrigated agriculture in hyperarid Arabia. Given Oman's rampant urbanization, growing scarcity of water and skilled labour, we quantified chances in water use, land use, and land cover between 2007 and 2018 using a rare time-series approach of detailed GIS-based crop mapping. Results from satellite image analysis and comprehensive ground truthing showed that urban areas grew from 206 ha in 2009 to 230 ha in 2014 and 252 ha in 2018. Throughout this decade, irrigated areas in backyards and front-house gardens of the town, planted largely to tree crops and vegetables, increased from 13.5 to 23.3 ha. Between 2007 and 2018 the actively used area of the studied oasis systems declined by 2.0% and the share of perennial crops without underplanting by 5.1%, while land under agroforestry increased by 2.1% and fallow land by 3.5%. Rising water demand of the sprawling town Sayh Qatanah led to terraces of Al 'Ayn and Ash Sharayjah now being partly irrigated with treated wastewater which accelerated the abandonment of the old settlement structures. The labour- and water use efficiency-driven transformation of the Al Jabal Al Akhdar oasis agriculture into increasingly market-oriented landuse systems questions its function as example of sustainable, bio-cultural heritage of Arabia.
阿曼北部西哈贾尔山脉的千年绿洲系统作为阿拉伯半岛极度干旱地区可持续灌溉农业的典范而备受关注。鉴于阿曼的城市化进程迅速、水资源和熟练劳动力日益短缺，我们利用基于 GIS 的详细作物制图的罕见时间序列方法，量化了 2007 年至 2018 年期间水利用、土地利用和土地覆盖的变化。卫星图像分析和全面实地核查的结果表明，城市面积从 2009 年的 206 公顷增加到 2014 年的 230 公顷和 2018 年的 252 公顷。在这十年中，城镇后院和前院花园的灌溉面积（主要种植树木和蔬菜）从 13.5 公顷增加到 23.3 公顷。2007 年至 2018 年，研究绿洲系统的活跃使用面积减少了 2.0%，无间作多年生作物的比例减少了 5.1%，而农林复合用地增加了 2.1%，休耕地增加了 3.5%。不断扩张的城镇 Sayh Qatanah 对水的需求增加，导致 Al 'Ayn 和 Ash Sharayjah 的梯田现在部分用处理后的废水灌溉，这加速了旧定居点结构的废弃。受劳动力和水资源利用效率驱动，Al Jabal Al Akhdar 绿洲农业向越来越以市场为导向的土地利用系统的转变，对其作为阿拉伯可持续生物文化遗产典范的功能提出了质疑。
