Download Land Degradation * Key Components

Land Degradation – Key
Components
Learning Intentions:
• Explore the key processes and causes of erosion and land
degradation.
• Know some key examples causing land degradation in Australia.
• Critically think about images and scenarios presented and link key
causes of land degradation together.
Three Key Components to Land Degradation
• Water, wind and weather
• Animals and plants
• People and man-made issues
Land Degradation: Loss of Soil
• Weathering – the process of breaking down of rocks and minerals
• Erosion – the process defining the transport (movement) of the
smaller parts of the rocks and minerals at some point after the
weathering has occurred
• Transport – the way that small pieces of rocks and minerals by natural
causes (suspension by in air or water, in a solution, tumbling along a
surface, etc.)
Weathering: Why?
Erosion: Causes?
Transport: How?
Introduced/Invasive Species
Can be a plant (flora) or an animal (fauna).
Introduced/Invasive Species
In partners talk about:
• How/why can these be negative?
• How/why can these be positive?
Introduced/Invasive Species
Negative
Animals
• No natural predators so population increases dramatically
• May be dominant species and kill native plants/animals
• May eat a lot of vegetation and leave ground bare
• Soil/rock may not be able to deal with different type of foot pad (hoof vs. paw)
Plants
• Takes too much of certain minerals out of soil causing a shift in what can survive
• Decomposition of plants waste may add things to soil that affect overall balance and thus cause a shift in what can
survive there
Both
• May carry disease which affects native plants/animals
Overall: can put the ecosystem around them out of balance and thus create an unsustainable environment.
Positive
• May be used to balance existing issue and not become an issue on its own.
Lack of Vegetation
What likely caused the lack of vegetation seen in these pictures?
Other Man-Made Reasons
• Lack of Management Strategy – not keeping animals out of fragile
areas, not rotating crops, etc.
• Over Fertilizing – putting too many chemicals onto fields which may
then leach into waterways/change natural balance
Solutions
With a partner use a mind-map to brainstorm any ways you can think
of to stop/slow down any of the soil/land degradation issues we have
talked about today.
Then add to your mind-map any issues that might by caused by your
solution.