All on erosion, a complete guide? The most effective way of minimizing erosion is to guarantee a permanent surface cover on the soil surface, such as trees, pasture, or meadow. However, compared to original forest soils, soils in pasture fields and croplands have less capacity to hold up and are more susceptible to erosion. These soils also have less capacity to absorb water, which makes flooding (and its economic, social, and environmental impacts) more common. The increasingly high demand of a growing population for commodities such as coffee, soybean, palm oil or wheat is clearing land for agriculture. Unfortunately, clearing autochthonous trees and replacing them with new tree crops that don’t necessarily hold onto the soil increases the risks of soil erosion. With time, as topsoil (the most nutrient-rich part of the soil) is lost, putting agriculture under threat.
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.
Glacial erosion occurs in two principal ways: through the abrasion of surface materials as the ice grinds over the ground (much of the abrasive action being attributable to the debris embedded in the ice along its base); and by the quarrying or plucking of rock from the glacier bed. The eroded material is transported until it is deposited or until the glacier melts. In some arid and desert tracts, wind has an important effect in bringing about the erosion of rocks by driving sand, and the surface of sand dunes not held together and protected by vegetation is subject to erosion and change by the drifting of blown sand. This action erodes material by deflation—the removal of small loose particles—and by sandblasting of landforms by wind-transported material. Discover more information on what is erosion website.
Local climate change scenarios will contribute to water erosion processes, mostly by rainfall erosivity increase. Different forest management models provide varying levels of soil protection by trees, resulting in distinct soil loss potential. Results confirm the suitability of the proposed approach to address soil erosion concerns in forest management planning. This approach may help foresters assess management models and the corresponding silvicultural practices according to the water-related services they provide.
Perimeter Runoff Control : This is the practice of planting trees, shrubs, and ground cover around the perimeter of your farmland which impedes surface flows and keeps nutrients in the farmed soil. Using the grass way is a specialized way of handling perimeter runoff that uses surface friction to channel and dissipate runoff. Rows of tall trees are used in dense patterns around the farmland and prevent wind erosion. Evergreen trees can provide year-round protection but deciduous trees can be adequate as long as foliage is apparent during the seasons when the soil is bare.