On many islands and in some nature reserves, goats are being removed and banned. How does removing goats and similar grazing animals reduce soil erosion?

The loss of soil also damages other environments. It increases the pollution in the waterways and the sedimentation in streams and rivers. Blocking these waterways reduces the drainage and so removes the possibility of fish and other aquatic life breeding and occupying these valuable resources. Soil is the foundation of all the living things. The nutrients that the plants need to grow and begin the food chain are found in the soil. And most of the nutrient cycles that return these valuable compounds into the food chain take place in the ecosystems that are hidden within the soil. Whilst... Show more

The loss of soil also damages other environments. It increases the pollution in the waterways and the sedimentation in streams and rivers. Blocking these waterways reduces the drainage and so removes the possibility of fish and other aquatic life breeding and occupying these valuable resources.

Soil is the foundation of all the living things. The nutrients that the plants need to grow and begin the food chain are found in the soil. And most of the nutrient cycles that return these valuable compounds into the food chain take place in the ecosystems that are hidden within the soil.

Whilst natural ecosystems support and are supported by the soil, agriculture often damages it and is the cause of soil loss. Farming practices increase the process of soil run-off. Huge areas of rainforest are being cut down to provide land for coffee, cotton, palm oil, soy beans and wheat. These crops are unable to trap the soil as the forest did and so run-off increases. In places of high rainfall, as the former rainforest is, a single season can be enough to leave the soil completely unable to support plant growth.

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