Jump to content

Revegetation at Sunrise Camp


catbirdseat

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 29
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Norman_Clyde said:

Speaking of devegetation of alpine meadows: there are former meadows in the high Sierra where sheep were allowed to denude the grasses for only a few seasons in the late 1800's, that are still dust bowls over 100 years later.

 

The same thing happened to much of Iceland; the Vikings who settled the island brought goats, who grazed down the grass; the dirt blew away, and what was rugged meadows is down miles of bare rock.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sheep and goats are especially bad as grazers go, because they pull up plants by the roots. Cattle and horses nip off the grass, but don't pull it up, so it can grow back. Greece was once completely forested. They cut all the oak trees down to build ships. Then they grew wheat. Eventually the soil deteriorated and they couldn't grow grain anymore. Then they grazed cattle. The forage became too poor for cattle. Finally they grazed goats. The goats left the land as the rocky semi-desert you see today. Same thing happened in the Middle East and in North Africa, for example, Carthage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...