What it is?
“Landscape alteration implies habitat fragmentation, habitat loss (i.e. reduction in the total amount of the habitat), habitat isolation and modification of the structure of the landscape.”
Landscape alteration is caused by a number of activities from different industries. The main anthropogenic activities include agricultural expansion and ranching, mining, exploration, urbanization, project developments such as the building of roads, dams and reservoirs, and others.
The world has lost a third of arable land due to erosion or pollution as global food consumption, industrialisation, and urbanisation soars.
Changes to the land can speed up natural processes such as weathering and erosion. Deforestation can lead to soil and water erosion. Air pollution, causing acid rain, can cause weathering or even break down the Earth’s surface.
Long-lasting impacts, such as oil spills, fertilizers, wastewater, etc. can effectively change the landscape as well. Ecological devastations occur when oil or other toxic substances leak onto land and destroy habitats and suffocating plants, and eventually impacting water bodies.
Source
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/landscape-alteration
