Desert Ecology

Desertification

•Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas.

•The process of fertile land transforming into desert typically as a result of deforestation, drought or improper/inappropriate agriculture

Causes of desertification:

1. Ambulatory cultivation

2. Overgrazing

3. Cutting of trees and perennial plants

4. Wrong Agricultural development

5. Fires

The general phenomena of desertification:

1. Deterioration of the pasture environment

2. Degradation of cultivated land by rainLand salinity

3. Destruction of forests and the removal of woody trees.

4. Increasing of the movement and crawling of the sand

5. Deterioration of water supply and changing of the pattern of surface leakage

Categories of desertification

1. Light Desertification:In this type of desertification, a very slight damage

occurs in vegetation cover and soil. This damagedoes not affect the biological capacity of theenvironment and can be neglected .

2-Moderate desertification:•A medium degree of damage of vegetation cover

occurs and formation of small sand dunes and salinization of the soil which reduces production by 10-25% .

3. Severe Desertification:In this type, spreading of weeds and unwanted shrubs in the pasture at the expense of desirable and wanted species occurs as well as increasing of the erosion activity which affects the vegetation cover and reduces production up to 50%

4. Very severe desertification:In this type of desertification, composition of active naked great sand dunes occurs and formation of many grooves and valleys and the salinization of the soil which leads to soil degradation. It is the most serious type of desertification.