how do people affect physical features in the atacama desert

Question

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Answer 1

There are several plants that local people eat, so flora (plants) are destroyed.  In the last 12 years, more roads have been built in the area, so road construction can damage plants and animals. Some of the plants that grow there are rare and beautiful; therefore, some commercial gathering of these have maybe not destroyed but removed to sell or study.  Local people also gather Salvia tubiflora and Ephedra for medicinal use.  Copper, sodium chloride, sodium nitrate, and iodine salts are mined there, so people destroy plants and infringe on animal habitats.  There are three parks in the Atacama, so I imagine there might be tourists who litter, pick plants, gather firewood for campfires, bother animals, etc.  Scientists go to this area as well, but I imagine they might be less likely to do the things I mentioned about tourists.  Locals also gather firewood for home use, so trees may be cut down.  Yes there are some kinds of trees in the Atacama.  Over-grazing of livestock is a problem, but I don't understand exactly how since there's not that many plants that grow there, so why would livestock farmers let their animals graze there?  Some areas have archaeological value, so I imagine some digging has occurred in those areas.