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The comment seems incorrect. Herds are good for the soil. They flatten grasses keeping moisture in, allowing for more growth. In the past, people believed the o

by veqq 4y ago

The comment seems incorrect. Herds are good for the soil. They flatten grasses keeping moisture in, allowing for more growth. In the past, people believed the opposite - and this is perhaps still believed in parts of the world. Such flawed thoughts about desertification led them to kill off tens of thousands of elephants in Southern Africa, which sped the process up much faster. Allan Savory: https://www.fastcompany.com/2681518/this-man-shot-40000-elephants-before-he-figured-out-that-herds-of-cows-can-save-the-planet https://www.fastcompany.com/2681518/this-man-shot-40000-elep... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880921004060 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016788092...

mythrwy 4y ago
Managed properly, yes. The soils of the Midwestern US were formed largely by herds of migratory bison for instance. The problem comes in when you don't defer grazing or give things a chance to regrow (see video in sib comment below). That absolutely can lead to desertification. As populations increase and nomadism becomes nonviable (so ground is not given a rest from grazing) it appears that's what happens.
sva_ 4y ago
> The comment seems incorrect. Herds are good for the soil. They flatten grasses keeping moisture in, allowing for more growth. In the past, people believed the opposite - and this is perhaps still believed in parts of the world. For some reason, the idea of complex organisms (in this case: mammals) migrating to new lands and fertilizing it seems counter-intuitive to me, but it does make sense in some way. I would've assumed that more simple organisms took this land long before mammals emerged. The biggest gripe I'd have with it would be: why would they move into those lands? There's nothing there for them. But the idea of them slowly extending fertilized soil does seem intriguing. It appears sort of counter-factual to me that we, who are (presumably) even more complex, seem to reverse this process. There seems to be a sweet-spot in evolution of a species to benefit the land on which they live on (and that around it), and we seem to be past it.

by veqq 4y ago

mythrwy 4y ago

Managed properly, yes. The soils of the Midwestern US were formed largely by herds of migratory bison for instance. The problem comes in when you don't defer grazing or give things a chance to regrow (see video in sib comment below). That absolutely can lead to desertification. As populations increase and nomadism becomes nonviable (so ground is not given a rest from grazing) it appears that's what happens.

sva_ 4y ago

> The comment seems incorrect. Herds are good for the soil. They flatten grasses keeping moisture in, allowing for more growth. In the past, people believed the opposite - and this is perhaps still believed in parts of the world. For some reason, the idea of complex organisms (in this case: mammals) migrating to new lands and fertilizing it seems counter-intuitive to me, but it does make sense in some way. I would've assumed that more simple organisms took this land long before mammals emerged. The biggest gripe I'd have with it would be: why would they move into those lands? There's nothing there for them. But the idea of them slowly extending fertilized soil does seem intriguing. It appears sort of counter-factual to me that we, who are (presumably) even more complex, seem to reverse this process. There seems to be a sweet-spot in evolution of a species to benefit the land on which they live on (and that around it), and we seem to be past it.