human activities that cause soil degradation and erosion

• what activities causes soil degradation and erosion?

  soil compaction, pollution, monoculture, intensive farming, urbanisation, climate change, ploughing, vegetation removal, overgrazing, reduced soil biota, cultivating steep slopes
• soil compaction


  machinery or livestock trampling- reduces infiltration rate
• pollution


  harmful substances in soil can degrade its quality- chemical wastes, oil spills, pesticides
• monoculture


  planting single crops- depletes the soil of specific nutrients
• intensive farming


  exhausting soil nutrients- causes need for fertilisers which harm soils natural fertility
• urbanisation


  construction of infrastructure- interrupts natural soil regeneration cycle
• climate change


  changes in climatic patterns- altered rainfall which accelerates soil degradation
• ploughing


  breaks up soil structure- increases wind or water erosion
• vegetation removal 


  removes protection of soil
• reduced soil biota


  ploughing can reduce number of living organisms in soil
• overgrazing


  vegetation being eaten- soil disturbance and root damage
• cultivating steep slopes


  surface run-off water flows faster on slopes