DESERTIFICATION

BY GUNDANA .R
OBJECTIVES
 Causes of desertification
 Human causes of desertification
 Natural causes of desertification
 Effects of desertification on vegetation
DEFINITION
 Itis defined as land degradation in humid and
semi-arid areas; that is , not including non-desert
(arid)areas.
 Itis the spread of desert-like conditions into
humid and semi-arid areas.
 Itis the encroachment of desert conditions into
areas considered as semi-arid land to a desert.
CAUSES OF
DESERTIFICATION
 These can be classified into two categories which
are namely:
 Natural
 Human
NATURAL CAUSES OF
DESERTIFICATION
 Temporary drought of high magnitude and long-
term climate-change towards aridity
 Destroyedor reduced vegetation cover in a dry
environment leads soil degradation and wind
erosion
 Itcan result from decrease in rainfall or
prevailing wind direction change due to the
impact of global warming on west Africa
HUMAN CAUSES OF
DESERTIFICATION
 Overgrazing of livestock
 Depletion of any tree cover (deforestation) for
building and fuel wood
 Inappropriate cultivation and irrigation
 The sedentarisation of nomads
EFFECTS OF DESERTIFICATION
ON VEGETATION
 Itreduces the occurrence of the nutrient cycle as
some nutrients are fixed by other plants so when
they are removed there would be a defiency of
the nutrients
 Itcould lead to extinction of some species of
plants due to the degradation