Different processes of land degradation also confound the available statistics on soil andor land degradation. Field research stations report soil losses 35 to 246 tons hayr, and farmers report declining productivity of their fields. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and the economy. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. The selection was based mainly on areas subjected to wind erosion, salinization, waterlogging, and other degradation types. Land degradationthe deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of the soils for present and futureis a global challenge that affects everyone through food insecurity, higher food prices, climate change, environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Read this article to learn about the meaning, factors responsible, prevention and control measures of land degradation. Indicatorbased approaches are often used to monitor land degradation and desertification from the global to the very local scale. Desertification has been defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities11. Soil degradation is any type of problem that removes soil in an area or makes highquality soil become poor.
Nov 24, 20 types of land degradation slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. A general definition of land degradation is presented by wasson 1987 as. Pdf land degradation can be described as an environmental phenomenon affecting dry lands. This study therefore set out to determine the effects of land use types on land degradation as reflected by soil properties soil bulk density, soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus along the mara river.
Land degradation can be observed when the potential productivity associated with a landuse system becomes nonsustainable, or when the land within an ecosystem is no longer able to perform its environmental regulatory function of accepting, storing, and recycling water, energy, and nutrients vlek et al. The types and intensity of human landuse and climate change impacts on lands. It encompasses physical soil erosion, chemical salinity and alkalinity, pollution and biological. As sustainability and productivity are not easy to define, degradation of land can better be described in terms of non. Arable land in particular has fertile soil used to. Pdf the cultivated lands are continuously degrading and the extent is increasing because of different natural environmental and.
In this report, land degradation is defined as a negative trend 4 in land condition, caused by direct or indirect humaninduced processes including anthropogenic. Soil erosion wind erosion, water erosion, mechanical erosion and so on a partial or complete loss of the top fertile layer of soil the soil layer with minerals and organic matter in it. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. Land degradation is a change to land that makes it less useful for human beings. The different types of land degradation require different adhoc systems of monitoring. Types of land degradation slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. The health impacts of desertification and drought pdf, 1.
The three degradation terms, environmental degradation, land degradation, and soil degradation, are defined as any change or disturbance to the environment, land, or soil perceived to be. This section describes land degradation trends in kenya as an introduction to the following. Information and translations of land degradation in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Land degradation is defined as the temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land, and the diminution of the productive potential, including its major land uses e. Land degradation is an important problem in ethiopia, with more than 85 % of the land degraded to various degrees. Effects of land use change on land degradation reflected by. Land degradation as the land use section earlier in this chapter shows, demands on the land for economic development and pressures from a burgeoning population are leading to unprecedented land use change. Land degradation intruduction land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of humaninduced processes acting upon the land. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and the. Mar 28, 2018 a new international report makes for bleak reading on the state of the worlds soils. Principal processes of land degradation include erosion by water and wind, chemical degradation comprising acidification, salinization, leaching etc. The land degradation section of this report deals with causes of land degradation, both in terms of deterioration of soil quality and loss of land. The report also describes the prevalent land degradation types, their causes and impacts, and sustainable land management practices to combat land degradation in somalia. Tools and techniques for measuring sediment delivery for large scale areas affecting.
It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. Stocking and murnaghan demonstrate these by using indicators that are relevant and applicable to real farming situations. Land degradation soil degradation is the decline in soil quality caused by its improper use, usually for agricultural, pastoral, industrial or urban purposes. Land degradation occurs when the economic and biological productivity of land is lost, primarily through human activities. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the physical environment is affected by a. Chapter 2 types of land degradation food and agriculture. In turn, unsustainable land use is driving land degradation. This practical handbook sets out rapid and nontechnical methods for measuring and assessing land degradation in the field. Land is a vital resource to humankind, like air and water. Where land conversion is a major cause of land degradation, it is also worth noting that available data indicate that half a million acres almost a tenth of the nations land have been deforested in the past thirteen or so years, doubling national agricultural cover in a short period of time. Soil degradation is a serious global environmental problem and may be exacerbated by climate change. The causes, types and effects of land degradation are addressed in the next paragraphs.
This is because they are localized or of small extent on a regional scale, or because they are more fully treated elsewhere. Land degradation is a humaninduced or natural process which negatively affects the land to function effectively within an ecosystem. Economics of land degradation and improvement in ethiopia. Land degradation is categorized into three types i. Land degradation, soil erosion and soil conservation pmf ias. Solutions need to be developed and introduced which address both issues simultaneously. This book contains selected contributions from the sixth meeting of the international geographical unions commission on land degradation and desertification, held in perth, australia, in september 1999.
Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. It also highlights state and impacts of degradation, along with. Land degradation has long been recognized as a major problem in rwanda, especially impacting the southwest of the country, but important everywhere. However, there is still little agreement on which indicators may best reflect both status and trends of these. Three major types of land degradation are affecting productivity. The change in the characteristic and quality of soil which adversely affect its fertility is called as degradation. The principal environmental impacts of land degradation include a rapid loss of habitat and biodiversity, modifications of. Land degradation also includes wind erosion and water erosion, resulting in. Representative soil profiles were selected for soils from each land degradation type for this study. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. A new international report makes for bleak reading on the state of the worlds soils. The experts disagree on how to define land degradation and associated processes such as desertification, but as an issue it is not difficult to understand. Center for food security studies, college of development studies, addis abeba university, ethiopia.
The ecosystems services that the land provides are at breaking point. Physical degradation refers to a deterioration in physical properties of soil whereas biological degradation refers to reduction in soil organic matter, decline in biomass carbon and decrease in activity and diversity of soil fauna. The major types of land degradation are soil erosion, soil salinity, soil acidity and soil contamination. In australia, about two thirds of agricultural land is degraded. Land degradation food and agriculture organization of the united. In addition, swalim has produced a report on detecting and monitoring the illegal charcoal trade, which is a major source of income for al shabaab and other armed groups. This section describes land degradation trends in kenya as an introduction to the following pairs of satellite images that show this degradation on the ground.
Soil samples were collected at sites to quantify the extent of degradation via analysis of selected characteristics, such as. Land degradation indicators and management options in the. Also mentioned when discussing these are nutrient loss and soil structure decline. Soil degradation a major threat to humanity summary soil degradation needs to be recognised, alongside climate change, as one of the most pressing problems facing humanity. Ega tries to overcome the deficiencies of neoclassical theory in explaining the uneven growth of many developing countries as well.
The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. Department of natural resource management, adigrat university, ethiopia 2. Recent estimates using satellite imagery show that land degradation hotspots over the last three decades cover about 23 %. Effects of land use change on land degradation reflected. Several types of soil degradation exist and are a threat to natural forests and planted crops. Collectively, these contributions explicitly seek to understand not only the mechanisms responsible for the problem of land degradation but their social and. Research by the economics of land degradation initiative in 2015 calculated that soil degradation is.
It is shown that if sediment load is to be reduced then efficient tools must be used to identify and treat the areas where sediment production is greatest. Pdf evaluation and selection of indicators for land. Careless agricultural practices, pollution and deforestation cause lots of soil degradation in the world. It predicts that land degradation will displace up to 700 million people worldwide by midcentury.