You are currently studying the change in ecosystems, succession. Examples of succession are all around us; fields turning to wood areas, ponds filling in, forest fires and even volcanic eruptions. A global issue is desertification. Check the resources and let me know what you think, is desertification a natural part of succession or is it simply a result of depleting resources and misuse of our lands?
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/desertification/
http://www.greenfacts.org/en/desertification/
http://www.unccd.int/
This blog was created to allow students a forum to discuss classroom topics and current science issues.
10 comments:
I think that while desertification is natural, humans speed up the process. Through global warming and over using the land, we cause desertification where it would not normally happen. For example, the great plains were turned into a 'dust bowl' through human error in the 1930's. The effects of the dust bowl swept all the way to Boston and drove millions of farmers out of the plains. The effect was mostly reversed by President Roosevelt and when rain finally fell in 1939 the effects were completely reversed and we haven't had a dust storm like that in the United States since. We need to make sure we don't abuse the land like we did ever again and when we are settling in an area we need to make sure that we keep erosion in mind so that humans don't contribute to the desertification problem that's already happening fast enough.
John and others, can you find any sources or suggestions for sustainable agriculture, options that do not harm the land but allow farmers to provide a suitable product and maintain current standards of living?
Actually Mr. Cote one of the articles i did for you did have a method of making a sustainable development for the desert. It has a small solar flower. It is called the solar flower because it has pedals just like a flower that gather sunlight. This allows for farmers to have electricity for their farm. There is also an irrigation system which involves a hill with a large septic tank in the middle and the rain help up in the septic tank and the water is passed through tubes and irrigates the field looking for the url to get more info
In agriculture, some factors that are harmful include pesticides which cause groundwater contamination and many other obsticles for organisms in an ecosystem. We also have created topsoil depletion which makes nutrients unavailable to plants. This however can be reversed through crop rotation where legumes such as beans make the soil once again nutricios. This is a tactic that does not have any harmful factors to the envrionnment. I got my information from http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/Concept.htm
I agree with John. I think that while disertification is natural, humans do in fact speed up the process. It stated on the website, "The Sahelian drought that began in 1968 was responsible for the deaths of between 100,000 and 250,000 people, the disruption of millions of lives, and the collapse of the agricultural bases of five countries". This is an example of disertification and how it couldn't have been prevented for the most part. Today, occurrences like these are more apt to happen because of human impact on the weather and temperatures.
Farmers and irrigators sometimes monitor the moisture level in their fields. This increases their ability to conserve water and energy, optimizes crop yields, and helps them to avoid soil erosion and water pollution that may be in their fields. This can be very expensive, costing anywhere from $500-$4400, but many of the devices used are rapidly paying for themselves in the form of crop yield improvements, energy savings, and water conservation. http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/soil_moisture.html
I agree with john and kirsten, the process of desertification isn't something that's caused by us depleting resources and misusing our lands, but we do play a role in speeding it up. For example, the fact that droughts, which are natural, don't cause desertification and can recover once the rain comes back. But, if there is continued land abuse during the drought, then that just increases land degradation. This just shows that a lot of the natural things might not cause desertification, but with our influence they might lead to it.
On this topic i would also agree with john to some degree that is is a natural occurrence but i think that humans influence it a great deal. if humans did not abuse the land as much then i feel not only would it be less often and less severe. For example in some cases people use salt water to irrigate fields. the salt is left in the soil and speeds up the process. Rotating crops and planting certain things helps to avoid desertification. Also developing forests can help lands that have already begun to become desertlike.
fear no man
There are many things that a farmer can do to avoid desertification and make a sustainable agriculture. As others have said before me, they can use the crop rotation method in order to make sure the nutrients are not being depleted. But while trying to make other methods, the farmer must take into account topography, soil characteristics, climate, pests, local availability of inputs and the individual grower's goals.
http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/Concept.htm#PlantPractices
I agree with John. Desertification is a natural process, it is just a part of sucession. However, the areas most effected by this are the poorest and most vulnerable populations on Earth, if the process is sped up, the concequinces will also be. We can prevent this by having a better and more ecofriendly attitude toward environmentally wise decisons. My source is http://www.greenfacts.org/en/desertification/#6.
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