Overgrazing is a land-use topic concerning the excessive consumption of vegetation by herbivores, typically livestock, beyond the capacity of plant communities and soils to recover, leading to degradation of terrestrial ecosystems. Scientifically, it involves sustained grazing pressure that reduces plant biomass, alters species composition toward less palatable or invasive species, exposes soil surfaces, and disrupts nutrient and water cycles. Overgrazed systems exhibit increased soil erosion, compaction, reduced infiltration, and diminished primary productivity, often crossing ecological thresholds into desertification or long-term loss of ecosystem function. It is a central topic in rangeland management, grazing ecology, and land degradation modeling.
The global food system faces growing risks as modern farming practices undermine the resilience of the world's soils, according to new research.
Agriculture
Oct 1, 2025
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593
Before 2013, divers on North America's west coast rarely saw purple sea urchins. The spiky animals, which are voracious kelp eaters, were a favorite food of the coast's iconic sunflower sea stars. The giant sea stars, recognizable ...
Environment
Sep 29, 2025
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34
More than half of Earth's terrestrial surface is rangeland—vast open areas of native vegetation, suitable for grazing. These areas feed 50% of the world's livestock and support the livelihoods of more than 2 billion people. ...
Environment
Sep 18, 2025
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149
South Africa's Eastern Cape province has several million hectares of open land in rural areas, not privately owned but held in trust by the state on behalf of communities. The people who live there use it mainly for grazing ...
Ecology
Sep 17, 2025
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24
A study led by researchers at the University of Oxford, working closely with colleagues from Duurzame Zuivelketen (DZK), among others, has developed a framework to help agricultural sectors better contribute to global biodiversity ...
Ecology
Aug 11, 2025
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33
Restoring underwater kelp forests by culling overgrazing sea urchins would deliver significant financial benefits, a new study has found.
Ecology
Jul 1, 2025
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20
Forests without top predators (such as tigers) risk being overgrazed by large herbivore prey, depleting vegetation carbon stocks and their capacity to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, an essential ecosystem function ...
Environment
May 7, 2025
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40
Over a year after a devastating winter wiped out virtually his entire sheep flock, herder Zandan Lkhamsuren is still reckoning with the damage wrought by Mongolia's increasingly erratic extreme weather.
Environment
Mar 13, 2025
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34
