Soil erosion is a natural event that affects all land. In farming and other agriculture, soil erosion refers to the weathering away of topsoil by the natural forces such as wind, water or through acts associated with farming such as tilling. Soil erosion can be something that happens slowly over time or something that can happen in the blink of an eye causing severe land damage. This article shows the cause and effect of soil erosion on farm and agriculture land.
Wind erosion occurs mostly in flat, dry areas with fine, sandy soil. Wind erosion is caused when the wind moves topsoil from one place and deposits it to another. The speed and extent of the wind depend on the amount of soil erosion done. Extreme wind erosion can cause severe amount damage to land and crops. Wind erosion damages land and crops in many ways, one such way is soil drifting. Soil drifting can lead to soil infertility which in turn can lead to poor crop growth and production, especially in areas where wind erosion is very common. Continual wind erosion in one area over time can change the texture of the soil by loss of sand, silt, nutrients and organic matter. The removal of such matter from the soil makes it harder for the soil to hold moisture, making it more difficult for crops to grow. Wind erosion also damages crops by burial of plants and seeds or unearthing of newly planted seeds, resulting in expensive delays and making it necessary to replant. Abundant woods and vegetation around
“Erosion occurs when the soil lacks protective vegetative cover”. (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) “Soil erosion reduces the productivity of the land by loss of water, soil, organic matter, nutrients, biota, and depth of soil.” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) With no conservation methods in place in certain places like: no contour farming, no cover crop, no terraces, no water ways, and tillage on steep hills is asking for a loss of productivity from the land. The effects on the land that non-conservation methods have is horrible. “Its effects are pervasive, and its damages are long lasting. (Pimentel and others 1995a)” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) Soil loss is a bigger factor then most people think. For an example an comparison of how much soil is actually lost in certain environments: “On sloping agricultural land under tropical rainfall, as much as 400t/ha/yr of soil is lost (Pimentel unpublished report,1990).”(Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) “Under arid conditions with relatively strong winds, as much as 5600t/ha/yr of soil has been reported lost (Gupta and Raina 1996).” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) Soil loss is a huge factor when conservation practices are not put into place. “According to some investigators, approximately 75 billion tons a fertile soil are lost annually from the world’s agricultural systems (Myers 1993).” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) Soil loss is a huge factor and many different things can be done to help slow it,
Erosion is a process where natural forces like water, wind, ice, and gravity wear away rocks and soil. Erosion occurs at the Earth’s surface, and has no effect on the Earth’s mantle and core. Water erosion is the removal of soil particles by heavy rainfall or running water. “While the causes of erosion by water are generally natural, water erosion is usually caused by rainfall and runoff on a slope” (GEI Works Erosion Pollution). “The process of water erosion usually occurs on stream and river banks, sea shores and seaside cliffs” (Reference.com).
Morialta Conservation Park is a protected area located in South Australia, Australia. The park covers an area of 533 hectares. It is set in a bush environment with several hikes to walk. It has a narrow gorge, consisting of three waterfalls.
As history repeats itself, we continue to notice that there are many geographic factors that effect regions across the world. A few of the most noticeable are monsoons and deserts. Over time these factors have altered the relationships between certain regions and benefitted our development in society. However, they can be extremely demoralizing as well. Not only is nature disrupted but the way in which people live on a daily basis. We are forced to make changes and adapt to the overwhelming geographic factors.
Environmental scanning can be viewed as a way of acquiring information about outside events that can aid organizations in first identifying potential trends, then interpreting them
Extracted soil samples indicate simultaneous reduction of rainfall and occasional erosion. Both soil and sediment features show establishment of marked
Soil Erosion - When the top layer of soil is worn down due to too much water, ice, or wind.
What is soil erosion? How can soil become polluted? What effect does soil erosion and pollution have on the environment?
There are many ways to conserve soil. Windbreaks, cover crops and crop rotation are some methods to conserve soil. Windbreaks are tree lines that are planted around crop fields to provide shelter from the wind which in turn protects the topsoil from erosion. Cover crop is a crop that is planted just to occupy the land but they are not always harvested because the land is occupied by crop year round this reduces soil erosion. Crop rotation is a set of crops planted in order and repeated yearly. Examples of crop rotation are corn could be planted one year, wheat the following year and hay the third year. Crop rotation has various benefits such as the soil health is increased, the water absorption into the soil is increased and most importantly soil erosion is
Erosion shapes the land by water, wind, or ice (usually glaciers) wearing down and removing weathered soil and rock from one location, by carrying and depositing it at another location. Rain carries away spots of soil and slowly washes away fragments of
Erosion removes the surface soils, containing most of the organic matter, plant nutrients, and fine soil particles, which help to retain water and nutrients in the root zone where they are available to plants. Thus it affects the productivity of plants. The remaining, the subsoil, tends to be less fertile, less absorbent and less able to retain pesticides, fertilizers, and other plant nutrients. There are over 17,000 soil types recognized worldwide. They vary widely in structure, erodibility, fertility, and ability to produce crops. A generalized soil profile for a humid, temperate climate is showed. When the natural vegetation is cleared for agriculture, soils become exposed to erosion and loss of soil fertility. The removal of the above-ground natural
Desertification is a term few people recognize and even fewer are concerned about. This paper will cover what desertification is along with why it is a global crisis, what the root causes of desertification are, what can be done to reverse the harm full desertification process, it will also cover how farmers can work together to prevent future desertification.
Environmental problems are something which belongs to nature or known as “Mother Earth” [13]. Nature was created to help people survive from gathering foods until build a house. This phenomenon happens continuously without thinking how much damage that nature has because human’s fault. Nature gradually becomes worse and animal’s life in danger. People who are aware of the importance of nature react. Those people do several ways to save the environment. Although these efforts can return back the environment, these efforts only can be hold temporarily. This problem happens because those people who are aware of the environment only slightly; for remaining, there are people either do not know or do not care about the nature. People’s efforts
Significantly, desertification also cause soil erosion, which means soil surface is worn by wind and water. Desertification makes soil easy to erode by water or wind, as soil is exposed and soil structure is instable without forest. LaI R(2003) says that ““Land area globally affected by erosion is 1094 million ha (Mha) by water erosion, of which 751 Mha is severely affected, and 549 Mha by wind erosion, of which 296 Mha is severely affected.” To control soil erosion, an obvious way is virescence, enlarging forest cover, which can protect the soil far from exposing to strong wind. Also, the roots of plants under ground play a role as a framework, as they are obstructions to soil movement,
Land Degradation is a global issue caused by multiple threats of the decrease of topsoil and land productivity from erosion processes and overuse. It is the process of human-beings affecting the atmosphere. As a result of land degradation, many negative impacts cause major threats to the environment such as food production, livelihood and also provision of other ecosystems.