dryland

[ drahy-land ]

noun

1. Often drylands. a tract of land having dry, often sandy soil, as on the floor of a valley:

   Acres of the drylands have been reclaimed by irrigation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dryland¹

1175–1225; Middle English. See dry, -land

Example Sentences

The Carrizo Plain stretches 50 miles between the Temblor and Caliente mountains, a grassy plain and drainage basin where Chumash, Yokuts and other Indigenous peoples hunted and traded before settlers tried their hand at dryland farming.

From Los Angeles Times

Han Chen's team's results highlight the complex linkages between biodiversity, ecosystem function, and climate change in dryland forests.

From Science Daily

The team utilized 57 years of inventory data -- spanning from 1958 to 2015 -- of dryland biomes in Canada, finding that climate warming does not adversely affect forests with resource-gaining characteristics.

From Science Daily

Oases are important habitats and water sources for dryland regions, sustaining 10% of the world's population despite taking up about 1.5% of land area.

From Science Daily

The researchers used satellite data to look for green, vegetated areas within dryland areas, indicating an oasis, and tracked changes over 25 years.

From Science Daily