Soil Degradation

Soil degradation is the alteration of one or more soil properties due to human or natural causes that results in a lowered performance of a soil for a specific function. The term soil degradation is also used to describe alteration of the soil properties associated with a soil's natural or inherent set of physical, chemical, and biological properties. Soil degradation may be a temporary condition or a permanent state, depending on the severity of the degradation and the resilience of the soil to being restored to a functional level for a specific purpose or to its natural inherent state through improved management and/or changes to physical variables (e.g., end of a drought period).

Soil erosion is an example of a soil-degradative process and is often considered ...