((( Look at me im king of the world....lol the black bored is green!!!! )))The causes of land degradation are mainly anthropogenic and mainly agriculture related. The major causes include: Look up anthropogenic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

• Land clearing and deforestation
• Agricultural depletion of soil nutrients
• Urban conversion
• Irrigation
• Pollution

The major stresses on vulnerable land include: Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area or wasteland. ... Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil. ... It has been suggested that Pollutant be merged into this article or section. ...

• Accelerated soil erosion by wind and water
• Soil acidification or alkalinisation
• Salination
• Destruction of soil structure including loss of organic matter

Severe land degradation affects a significant portion of the earth's arable lands, decreasing the wealth and economic development of nations. Land degradation cancels out gains advanced by improved crop yields and reduced population growth. As the land resource base becomes less productive, food security is compromised and competition for dwindling resources increases, the seeds of potential conflict are sown. Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, or movement in response to gravity. ... Soil acidification is the buildup of hydrogen cations, also called protons, in the soil. ... Visible salt deposits on the former bed of the Aral Sea Soil salination is the accumulation of free salts to such an extent that it leads to degradation of soils and vegetation. ... Soil structure is determined by how individual soil granules clump or bind together and aggregate. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Economic development is a sustainable increase in living standards that implies increased per capita income, better education and health as well as environmental protection. ... Human population increase from 10,000 BC – 2000 AD. Population growth is change in population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals in a population per unit time. ... Subsistence farmers with a Treadle Pump. ...

Thus a downward eco-social spiral is created when marginal lands are nutrient depleted by unsustainable land management practices resulting in lost soil stability leading to permanent damage. Land management can be defined as the process of managing the use and development of land resources in a sustainable way. ...

We often assume that land degradation only affects soil productivity. However, the effects of land degradation often have more significant impacts on receiving water courses (rivers, wetlands and lakes) since soil, along with nutrients and contaminants associated with soil, are delivered in large quantities to environments that respond detrimentally to their input. Land degradation therefore has potentially disastrous impacts on lakes and reservoirs that are designed to alleviate flooding, provide irrigation, and generate Hydro-Power.

References

• Human Induced Land Degradation is Preventable. United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service. Retrieved on 2006-06-20.

This article incorporates text in the public domain produced by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service The United States Department of Agriculture (also called the Agriculture Department, or USDA) is a United States Federal Executive Department (or Cabinet Department). ... The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is a relatively small government agency in the United States Department of Agriculture currently comprised of about 12,000 employees. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further reading

• Eswaran, H.; R. Lal and P.F. Reich. (2001). "Land degradation: an overview". Responses to Land Degradation. Proc. 2nd. International Conference on Land Degradation and Desertification, New Delhi, India: Oxford Press. Retrieved on 2006-06-20. 

D.L. Johnson and L.A. Lewis Land Degradation:Creation and Destruction, 2nd edition, Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Oxford, 2007 For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...