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Overgrazing by livestock can lead to land degradation. Land degradation is a process where land becomes less healthy and productive due to a combination of human activities or natural conditions. The causes for land degradation are numerous and complex. [1] Human activities are often the main cause, such as unsustainable land management practices.
Even the simplest forms of agriculture affect diversity – through clearing or draining the land, discouraging weeds and pests, and encouraging just a limited set of domesticated plant and animal species. [23] There are also feedbacks and interactions among the proximate and underlying causes of deforestation that can amplify the process.
Animal agriculture worldwide encompasses 83% of farmland (but only accounts for 18% of the global calorie intake), and the direct consumption of animals as well as over-harvesting them is causing environmental degradation through habitat alteration, biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and trophic interactions. [174]
Management techniques range from animal management and housing to the spread of pesticides and fertilizers in global agricultural practices, which can have major environmental impacts. Bad management practices include poorly managed animal feeding operations, overgrazing, plowing, fertilizer, and improper, excessive, or badly timed use of ...
If excessive use was made of common land, for example in overgrazing, a common would be "stinted", that is, a limit would be put on the number of animals each commoner was allowed to graze. These regulations were responsive to demographic and economic pressure; thus rather than let a common become degraded, access was restricted even further.
It is toxic to horses, prevents native plants from growing (decreasing biodiversity and degrading natural ecosystems), and is a physical barrier to the migration of indigenous animals. The increasing globalization of agriculture has resulted in the accidental transport of pests, weeds, and diseases to novel ranges.
Species from all groups of fauna and flora are affected by overexploitation. This phenomenon is not bound by taxonomy; it spans across mammals, birds, fish, insects, and plants alike. Animals are hunted for their fur, tusks, or meat, while plants are harvested for medicinal purposes, timber, or ornamental uses.
Soils have become degraded in locations where farmers have cleared perennial vegetation to grow crops and graze animals, exposing the soil to erosion by wind and water. [1] In total, one-third of the world's population lives in drylands where land degradation is reducing food supplies, biodiversity, water quality and soil fertility. [2]