| Land Degradation |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT LAND DEGRADATION | |
| ecology | |
| environmental soil science | |
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Land degradation causes losses to Agricultural productivity in many parts of the world. The causes of land degradation are mainly Anthropogenic and mainly agriculture related. The major causes include:
The major stresses on vulnerable land include:
Severe land degradation affects a significant portion of the earth's arable lands, decreasing the wealth and Economic Development of nations. Land degradation cancels out gains advanced by improved crop yields and reduced Population Growth . As the land resource base becomes less productive, Food Security is compromised and competition for dwindling resources increases, the seeds of potential conflict are sown. Thus a downward eco-social spiral is created when marginal lands are nutrient depleted by unsustainable Land Management practices resulting in lost soil stability leading to permanent damage. We often assume that land degradation only affects soil productivity. However, the effects of land degradation often have more significant impacts on receiving water courses (rivers, wetlands and lakes) since soil, along with nutrients and contaminants associated with soil, are delivered in large quantities to environments that respond detrimentally to their input. Land degradation therefore has potentially disastrous impacts on lakes and reservoirs that are designed to alleviate flooding, provide irrigation, and generate Hydro-Power. REFERENCES ''This article incorporates text in the public domain produced by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service EXTERNAL LINKS
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