Grassland degradation
[1] Initially, only patches of grass appear to die and appear brown; but the degradation process, if not addressed, can spread to many acres of land.
[5] With these smaller plots, farmers try to maximize their space and profits by densely packing their land with animals.
[5][10] Both of these actions encourage soil erosion and make it more difficult for plants to firmly ground themselves to this poor terrain.
[5] They claim that such burrowing aids in the recycling of nutrients in the soil and that the rise in population is only normal since grazing levels in these areas have also risen.
[5][10] Climate change has had a noticeable role in grassland degradation, for its characteristics are not suitable for the growth of grass.
[1] Additionally, since alpine regions, where degradation typically occurs, are commonly of high elevation, they are more easily affected by climate and its changes.
[8] Roads reduce the area where grass can grow successfully; the settlements constructed by herdsmen have proven to be the most damaging to grassland since they are accompanied by their animals, which further harm the region.
[2] Lightly degraded grassland is the least potent of the three and is characterized by patches of dead or no grass, spottily dispersed throughout the land.
[5] Plant and animal diversity starts to lessen but becomes really apparent in moderately degraded grasslands, in which patches of dead grass increase in size and number.
[2] The grasslands that are affected the worst are highly degraded, which can be recognized by the vast expanse of dead grass.
[11] In the winter and autumn seasons, this land is naked of any vegetation whatsoever; but in the summer and spring, it is at least populated by toxic herbage.
[15] With less biodiversity, this ecosystem is less adaptable to when disasters strike it[13][8] It has a smaller available food supply, in terms of plants, for animals, who then may die out or more likely may relocate.
Proof of this decline is that presently 15–20% of Tibetan Plateau species are now considered endangered, and now because of this animal and plant absence, the soil quality of these degraded lands is very poor.
In the northern Chinese province alone, 400 million are affected every year with an associated 54 billion yuan of annual economic loss due to grassland degradation.
[4] Successful grassland restoration has several dimensions, including recognition in policy, standardisation of indicators of degradation, scientific innovation, knowledge transfer and data sharing.
[2] Fencing an area off allows for that plot of land to be reprieved from grazing until it reaches its normal, healthy state, in which no more patches of dead grass exist.
[5] These actions include reseeding and rodent control, whose goal is not to extinguish that population but rather to manage it so that it does not further degrade the land.
[1] Since weeds are so numerous in highly degraded grasslands and since they suck so many nutrients from the soil, it is important to eradicate them as much as possible; and this is done so quite successfully by herbicide solutions.
