The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005, p 5)
defined land degradation as “a persistent reduction of biological
and economic productivity” and reported data from around the
world that for arid and semi-arid lands link the transition of
grasslands to shrublands to the increased surface runoff, topsoil
erosion, and exposure to rocky surfaces. Eventually, the degradation
due to overstocking and range mismanagement led also to a
decline on fodder availability