Question

Overgrazing should be checked(250words)

Answer 1

Effects of OvergrazingSoil erosion

The continued trampling of numerous animals in an average forage land will act to accelerate the death of plants and vegetation cover. This is because the animals will graze even on the slightest shoots of new growth. Without the plants or vegetation cover, the soil is left bare and exposed to harsh weather such as heavy downpour and high temperatures which disintegrates the rocks and carries the top soil away. Animals also prefer gathering at specific areas, like next to water sources, and such areas can get eroded.

Land degradation

The acts of compaction and erosion as a result of overgrazing can cause tremendous land degradation. In drier areas, the experience is even worse as a large percentage of pasture and land cover is destroyed, contributing to relentless progression of desertification. In fact, in some areas overgrazing has led to complete desertification. Overgrazing combined with overstocking has the most damaging outcomes to the world’s natural environment.

The scarcity of water resources, water pollution, degeneration of coral reefs, and eutrophication are all connected to overgrazing. The chief polluting elements include farm chemicals and animal wastes. Intensive grazing disrupts the water cycle and diminishes the replenishment capability of ground water resources as substantial amounts of water is used for feed production. In the South China Sea, overgrazing is linked with nitrogen and phosphorous contamination.

Loss of valuable species

The natural composition of plant population and their regeneration capacity is significantly affected by overgrazing. The original pasture crops are composed of high quality pastures and herbs with great nutritional value. When animals intensively graze on such pastures, even the root stocks which contain the reserve food or regeneration capacity get ruined. Once ruined, some other more adaptable species such as weeds and unpalatable plants take up their place. These secondary plant species have less nutritional values and because they are highly adaptive, they replace the native species thereby causing the loss of valuable plant species.