Land DegradATION
In Phoenix, Arizona land is being degraded because of
Effects of land degradation are
- Boundary crossing prevention activities- drug trafficking and illegal immigration from Mexico have caused losses of wildlife habitat near the border of Arizona and Mexico. One example of an activity is digging up plants and soil to put up a secure fence.
- Farmers are pumping ground water from natural springs and using it for a system of irrigation for crops
Effects of land degradation are
- Decrease of ground water
- Natural springs can be dried up and become non-flowing
- Many animals' population may decrease from lack of water
- Many plants' population may decrease form lack of ground water needed in the process of photosynthesis, which is used to make their own energy
- One example of such effects is riparian plants are dying off because of lack of the nutrient input relying on the dried streams for water flow to the plants
This figure represents the effects of plants and springs of groundwater pumping and human activity. In the first part of the picture, the groundwater height is where is should be without human interference. However in the next two sections of the pictures, it shows the groundwater height going down, the springs drying up, and the plants dying. Therefore, groundwater pumping has large negative effects on the Sonoran Desert ecosystem.