Everything about erosion, a full guide? What is soil erosion and soil degradation? Although soil erosion is a natural process, human activities over the past decades have greatly accelerated it. In fact, according to the UNESCO, land degradation is undermining the well-being of two-fifths of humanity, driving species extinct and intensifying climate change. According to a senior UN official, all of the world’s topsoil could be gone within 60 years.
Every year, rivers deposit millions of tons of sediment into the oceans. Without the erosive forces of water, wind, and ice, rock debris would simply pile up where it forms and obscure from view nature’s weathered sculptures. Although erosion is a natural process, abusive land-use practices such as deforestation and overgrazing can expedite erosion and strip the land of soils needed for food to grow.
Continued deflation of loose particles from landforms leaves behind larger particles that are more resistant to deflation. Wind action transports eroded material above or along the surface of Earth either by turbulent flow (in which particles move in all directions) or by laminar flow (in which adjacent sheets of air slip past one another). The transportation of wind-eroded material continues until the velocity of the wind can no longer sustain the size particle being transported or until the windblown particles collide with or cling to a surface feature. See extra info at erosion control website.
We aim at assessing the impacts of forest ecosystem management practices (e.g., selection of tree species, harvesting) on soil protection, as its planning schedule impacts soil erosion over the long-term (Lu et al. 2004; Panagos et al. 2014, 2015b). Our research examines how management practices contribute to change the vegetation cover over time. It further encapsulates these changes within the RUSLE, by determining the corresponding C-factor. Seven stand-level forest management models (sFMM), i.e., sequences of management practices, with species-specific rotations, over a 90-year time span, are used for testing purposes. Specifically, we assess and compare sFMM according to their potential for the provision of water-related ecosystem services under two climate scenarios.
Terracing is a method of carving multiple, flat leveled areas into hills. Steps are formed by the terraces which are surrounded by a mud wall to prevent runoff and hold the soil nutrients in the beds. More commonly found in lesser developed nations due to the difficulty of using mechanized farming equipment in the terraces. Very popular in Asia for planting rice. A more enhanced version of Contour Plowing, maximum water retention is achieved by taking into account all the watershed properties when making the contour lines. The Keyline refers to topographic features linked to water flow. This allows the water to run off to run directly into an existing water channel, and prevent soil erosion caused by the water.