deserttification
Main threats to the Chihuahuan desert are due to population growth, poor water management, agricultural expansion, invasive species and a lack of understanding about the desert's ecological importance. The garsslands in northern Mexico and USA are now turning into shrubs by a process called desertification.
Desertification according to the Oxford Dictionary is "the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture". Plainly, it means that the land becomes unvegetated and infertile due to grazing, drought and plants that suck the water out of nearby vegetation.
Desertification is mainly up to grazing of animals in a certain area of land, without the amount of grazing being limited in a certain area. About 150 years ago, more water was found and larger herds of cattle and other animals were brought in. the plants were trampled and eaten and shrubs (like the mesquite above) grew in native plant's place. This is called shrub invasion. ATTACK OF THE SHRUBS! No one understood how the herds would effect the land in the future and thought it was a great idea.If cattle are grazed in one place only, that land becomes victim to desertification. If the grazing is shared around, the desert would last longer in the fight against desertification.
Some say that desertification is also due to climate change and the droughts and higher temperatures it brings. They say that desertification would happen anyway so the effects from humans doesn't. It does matter in fact because if it happens earlier, the desert would be hard for human occupation because desertification makes land unsustainable and vegetaion very difficult to grow.
Water management is very important to fight desertification. By using all the rare water for humans' needs, that leaves very little for plants, and in some way that comes back to bite us in the back when there are no nearby vegetation to keep us alive. This also is connected with the issue of population growth. More human occupation means more water usage and as explained before, that would be very difficult for us later in the future.
Agricultural expansion is the non native plants being planted that need more water to survive unlike the very sustainable endemic flora. Fruit orchards, cotton fields and pine tree groves reduce the water in the soil and in native plants.
desertification is a very important issue that we need to face to help us, the flora and fauna and the environment in general.
Desertification according to the Oxford Dictionary is "the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture". Plainly, it means that the land becomes unvegetated and infertile due to grazing, drought and plants that suck the water out of nearby vegetation.
Desertification is mainly up to grazing of animals in a certain area of land, without the amount of grazing being limited in a certain area. About 150 years ago, more water was found and larger herds of cattle and other animals were brought in. the plants were trampled and eaten and shrubs (like the mesquite above) grew in native plant's place. This is called shrub invasion. ATTACK OF THE SHRUBS! No one understood how the herds would effect the land in the future and thought it was a great idea.If cattle are grazed in one place only, that land becomes victim to desertification. If the grazing is shared around, the desert would last longer in the fight against desertification.
Some say that desertification is also due to climate change and the droughts and higher temperatures it brings. They say that desertification would happen anyway so the effects from humans doesn't. It does matter in fact because if it happens earlier, the desert would be hard for human occupation because desertification makes land unsustainable and vegetaion very difficult to grow.
Water management is very important to fight desertification. By using all the rare water for humans' needs, that leaves very little for plants, and in some way that comes back to bite us in the back when there are no nearby vegetation to keep us alive. This also is connected with the issue of population growth. More human occupation means more water usage and as explained before, that would be very difficult for us later in the future.
Agricultural expansion is the non native plants being planted that need more water to survive unlike the very sustainable endemic flora. Fruit orchards, cotton fields and pine tree groves reduce the water in the soil and in native plants.
desertification is a very important issue that we need to face to help us, the flora and fauna and the environment in general.