Land Degradation

Essay by marvouta_1 February 2008

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Land degradation is a decline in the quality of land. There are several major types of land degradation in Australia. Some of which are listed below:Soil erosion occurs when large numbers of trees are removed from a small area. Normally, soil is held together by tree roots. However, when these trees are removed, there is nothing to hold the soil together, so when the wind blows the rich, fertile topsoil is easily blown away. Once this has occurred, crops planted on this land are of lesser quality and quantity, as there are less nutrients present in the soil. Sometimes this problem is so severe that crops can not be planted at all. This is a big problem to farmers, as their profits are greatly reduced. The only solution is to plant trees with strong roots in an effort to hold the soil togeth. . .

It occurs when large amounts of chemicals such as phosphates are put into the water from either industrial waste, fertilisers being washed by the rain into the water, or any other method the nutrients will either be used up, or heavy rain will wash them downstream, and the algae will die, and any surviving fish will return.

However, when these trees are removed, rainfall causes the water table to rise, bringing with it dissolved salts from rocks deep under the earth. Eventually,Eutrophication is another form of land degradation. Underneath the soil is a layer of water called the water table.

The only ways we can resolve this kind of land degradation is by being careful where we let chemicals from things like car washes, weed poisons and any other related source flow. Removing salt from the water, this helps to make the water usable by other plants. Water from the water table is...