, & Giron, M., 2012). Currently, desertification is the major effect from human movement in the Sahara Desert (Tachi, R., & Giron, M., 2012). Desertification is a form of land degradation in which land becomes more arid, losing water, soil fertility, vegetation, and animals (Tachi, R., & Giron, M., 2012). It is caused by over-hunting, over-farming, infrastructure development, and deforestation (Tachi, R., & Giron, M., 2012).
It is believed that within the last 5,000 years, due to over-hunting and over-exploitation, there has been a drastic decline of the amount of faunas existing in the Sahara (Northern Africa. n.d.). Over-hunting is still an issue currently in the ecosystems of the Sahara. A fauna in the middle of the Sahara in somewhat rich with 70 species of mammals, 90 species of birds, and about 100 species of reptile (Northern Africa. n.d.). This is an unexpectedly rich fauna for the Sahara Desert. However, in this ecosystem, animals like the appax antelope would not be found because of the over-hunting by humans for fur, food, horns and so on. It may still be possible to still find these animals and more endangered antelope and gazelles in very small groups in certain parts of the Sahara (Northern Africa. n.d.).
The destruction of vegetation also affects the ecosystem of the Sahara greatly. Although, vegetation is already scarce and limited, the destruction and over-harvesting of these plants affect the ecosystem because they are used for fuels which, when burned, cause greenhouse gas emissions which create stranger climates (Nabi, A., 2012). This may lead to drier and harsher weather in the ecosystems. Also, destruction and over-harvesting of vegetation may cause wildlife in the ecosystems to slowly die out due to lack of food (Nabi, A., 2012). Over-grazing is also a major issue that strongly relates to over- harvesting (Nabi, A., 2012). Due to the fact that majority of the inhabitants of the desert are nomads, cattle, sheep and other animals possessed by the nomadic people need to be fed/grazed.