Reading: Causes of Soil Erosion
- Farming. Agriculture is probably the most significant activity that accelerates soil erosion because of the amount of land that is farmed and how much farming practices disturb the ground (Figure …
- Grazing. …
- Logging and Mining. …
- Construction. …
- Recreational Activities. …
How does soil erosion affect farming?
What are the 5 causes of soil erosion?
- Rainfall and Flooding. Higher intensity of rainstorm is the main cause of soil erosion. …
- Agriculture. The farming practices are the major cause of soil erosion. …
- Grazing. …
- Logging and Mining. …
- Construction. …
- Rivers and Streams. …
- Heavy Winds. …
- Loss of Arable Land.
What problems are caused by soil erosion?
On-site effects of erosion
- Impaired soil productivity. Agricultural land is among the most affected lands by erosion worldwide. …
- Desertification. Overexploited lands in dry regions are extremely vulnerable to soil erosion. …
- Land degradation. Erosion by wind or water is greatly responsible for nearly 85 percent of soil degradation throughout the world [13].
How do plants stop erosion?
You can reduce soil erosion by:
- Maintaining a healthy, perennial plant cover.
- Mulching.
- Planting a cover crop – such as winter rye in vegetable gardens. …
- Placing crushed stone, wood chips, and other similar materials in heavily used areas where vegetation is hard to establish and maintain.
Why is erosion bad for farming?
Why is erosion so bad for farming? Soil erosion decreases soil fertility, which can negatively affect crop yields. It also sends soil-laden water downstream, which can create heavy layers of sediment that prevent streams and rivers from flowing smoothly and can eventually lead to flooding.
What causes soil erosion in agriculture?
Soil erosion occurs primarily when dirt is left exposed to strong winds, hard rains, and flowing water. In some cases, human activities, especially farming and land clearing, leave soil vulnerable to erosion.
How does agriculture affect soil?
Farming practices such as tilling break up the soil and destroy its natural structure, killing many of the vital bacteria and fungi that live there and leaving it vulnerable to being washed away. “Soil is not just useful for helping us grow food,” says Vargas.
How does soil erosion affect agriculture?
Agriculture. Soil erosion removes valuable top soil which is the most productive part of the soil profile for agricultural purposes. The loss of this top soil results in lower yields and higher production costs. When top soil is gone, erosion can cause rills and gullies that make the cultivation of paddocks impossible.
How does agriculture cause soil pollution?
Agriculture and livestock activities pollute soil through excessive application of pesticides and fertilizers, the use of untreated wastewater for irrigation, and the use of manure and sewage sludge with high antibiotic, antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and heavy metal content.
How agriculture contributes to the soil and water degradation?
However, agriculture is both cause and victim of water pollution. It is a cause through its discharge of pollutants and sediment to surface and/or groundwater, through net loss of soil by poor agricultural practices, and through salinization and waterlogging of irrigated land.
What are the causes of soil erosion?
Causes of soil erosion: Due to human activities like deforestation, overgrazing, construction and mining, etc. Natural forces like wind, glacier and water leads to soil erosion. Wind blows loose soil off flat or sloping land, and is called wind erosion. Soil erosion is also caused due to defective methods of farming.
How to prevent erosion of soil?
Plants prevent wind and water erosion by covering the soil and binding the soil with their roots. The best choice of plants to prevent soil erosion are herbs, wild flowers and small trees.
Which activity accelerates soil erosion?
Farming. Agriculture is probably the most significant activity that accelerates soil erosion because of the amount of land that is farmed and how much farming practices disturb the ground (Figure 1). Farmers remove native vegetation and then plow the land to plant new seeds. Fine soil is blown away by wind.
Why is soil erosion bad?
Soil erosion is a gradual process that occurs when the impact of water or wind detaches and removes soil particles, causing the soil to deteriorate. Soil deterioration and low water quality due to erosion and surface runoff have become severe problems worldwide. The problem may become so severe that the land can no longer be cultivated and must be abandoned. Many agricultural civilizations have declined due to land and natural resource mismanagement, and the history of such civilizations is a good reminder to protect our natural resources.
How does soil conservation affect erosion?
The amount and rate of surface runoff can affect erosion and sediment transport. Thus, soil conservation practices are important in reducing soil erosion. Improving the soil infiltration rate, resulting in less surface runoff, can lead to reduction of soil erosion. Agronomic, cultural, or structural practices are available for controlling soil …
What is the difference between rill erosion and ephemeral erosion?
Rill erosion occurs during heavy rains, when small rills form over an entire hillside, making farming difficult. Gully erosion makes gullies, some of them huge, impossible to cross with farm machinery. Ephemeral erosion occurs in natural depressions.
How is sediment transported?
Eroded topsoil can be transported by wind or water into streams and other waterways. Sediment is a product of land erosion and derives largely from sheet and rill erosion from upland areas, and to a lesser degree, …
Why is Iowa losing soil?
Soil losses in Iowa due to water erosion and surface runoff can contribute a great deal to surface water quality concerns. Many studies indicate that soil erosion results in large decreases in soil productivity.
How does erosion affect water quality?
The impact of soil erosion on water quality becomes significant, particularly as soil surface runoff. Sediment production and soil erosion are closely related. Therefore, the most effective way to minimize sediment production is the stabilization of the sediment source by controlling erosion. Several conservation practices can be used to control erosion but first you need to understand the factors affecting soil erosion. Soil erosion is the detachment and movement of soil particles from the point of origination through the action of water or wind. Thus, minimizing the impact of water or wind forces is the main objective for erosion control. Water erosion is the most pertinent erosion problem in Iowa.
What is the most important problem in Iowa?
Water erosion is the most pertinent erosion problem in Iowa. Soil erosion by water occurs when bare-sloped soil surface is exposed to rainfall, and the rainfall intensity exceeds the rate of soil intake, or infiltration rate, leading to soil-surface runoff.
What are the effects of erosion on soil?
Soils with little rooting depth potential , slowly permeable subsoils, and fragile soils structure , or those that are shallow to bedrock or coarse sands and gravels, definitely are adversely affected by erosion. No amount of management can compensate for the lack of suitable soil material.
Why is soil erosion important?
Soil erosion is a major environmental issue because it can lead to water pollution. But did you know that soil erosion also can seriously impair crop productivity? Most agriculture activities, especially on sloping landscapes, increase the potential for soil erosion.
How does soil affect the growth of plants?
Thin topsoils mean lower organic matter content, low water holding capacity, and less rooting depth. Textural distribution within the soil profile also determines how much plant-available water is present. Soils with coarse textures tend to drain water more quickly, whereas soils with fine textures hold water too tightly for roots. Poor drainage occurs in medium-textured as well as fine-textured soils on concave landforms, and, in the absence of an artificial drainage system, root development is affected because of the lack of oxygen.
How can manure and fertilizer help soil?
The addition of manure and fertilizer can supply needed crop nutrients and help offset some loss of inherent fertility caused by soil erosion. But the productivity of eroded soils can be restored by added inputs only if favorable subsoil material is present.
What does it mean to prevent soil erosion?
The loss of yield is devastating. In summary, preventing soil erosion means preserving inherent soil fertility and minimizing fertilizer and management inputs. Understanding the impact of erosion on soil productivity means knowing the characteristics of your soils.
What are the three parts of soil?
The vertical cross section of soil (soil profile) is divided into three parts: topsoil (A-horizon), subsoil (B-horizon), and parent material (C-horizon ). Topsoil is generally enriched with organic matter and has granular aggregates that provide larger soil pores, reduce soil density, and enhance water infiltration and aeration. When topsoil is eroded, yield suffers due to nutrient loss and damage to soil physical properties. The loss of topsoil and its impact on yield are more pronounced on soils with steep slopes.
Why does clay accumulate below the soil?
Clay particles tend to accumulate below the topsoil due to the leaching. When topsoil has eroded, the loss of organic matter can alter the soil’s physical properties, especially soil density. Higher clay content at the surface can reduce infiltration of topsoil reducing soil recharge, thus reducing water availability to the plants.
How does soil erosion affect crops?
Soil erosion decreases soil fertility, which can negatively affect crop yields . It also sends soil-laden water downstream, which can create heavy layers of sediment that prevent streams and rivers from flowing smoothly and can eventually lead to flooding. Once soil erosion occurs, it is more likely to happen again.
How does erosion affect the environment?
Erosion degrades land, which means it can support fewer plants that can take in climate-warming carbon dioxide. Soils themselves could potentially sequester enough greenhouse gases in a year to equal about 5% of all annual human-made GHG emissions.
How does agroforestry help with erosion?
For smallholders, agroforestry systems where a diverse set of crops, including trees, are grown together can be effective. Access to manure improves the organic matter of the soil, which inhibits erosion. Finally, alternating deep-rooted and shallow-rooted crops improves soil structure and reduces erosion at the same time.
How can we reduce soil erosion?
The key to managing and reducing soil erosion is to rehabilitate already-damaged land, stop further degradation and put erosion-preventative measures at the core of land management policy. In this way, we can help prevent hunger and mitigate the climate crisis.
What is the natural resource that is the most fragile product of thousands of years of formation?
Soil is a natural resource that may look robust and endless, but is in fact the fragile product of thousands of years of formation. Topsoil, which lies closest to the surface of the land, contains essential nutrients for crops. It is this layer of soil that is endangered by wind and water erosion. Soil erosion decreases soil fertility, which can …
How fast does soil erode?
A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that when cultivated without conservation practices, soil is currently eroding up to 100 times quicker than it’s forming.
Why is terraced farming important?
Terraced farming needs to be implemented to make hillside agriculture manageable. Terraces prevent erosion and allow more water to flow to crops. In addition, hillside farm fields need full crop cover to help keep the soil in place.
What are the causes of soil erosion?
Construction of roads and buildings, logging, mining, and agricultural production have resulted in large amounts of soil erosion in the U.S. and around the world. When soil erodes, it is usually the topsoil that erodes first, which means that the potential of the eroded area to produce food or forage is greatly reduced.
When is the soil most susceptible to erosion?
The time that the soil is typically bare, and thus most susceptible to erosion, is after plowing to prepare a seedbed. To minimize the problems arising from plowing some crop producers have turned to so called conservation tillage.
How to minimize soil erosion?
The time that the soil is typically bare, and thus most susceptible to erosion, is after plowing to prepare a seedbed. To minimize the problems arising from plowing some crop producers have turned to so called conservation tillage. Conservation tillage is any tillage system that conserves the amount of vegetation or crop resides left on the surface. Two major categories of conservation tillage are no-till or minimum tillage production systems. In no-till planting the vegetation on the surface is first killed with a broad spectrum herbicide. Then a special planter is used (usually known as a no-till planter or drill) to plant seed directly through the dead vegetation. A modification of the no-till approach is known as minimum tillage. As the term implies some tillage is used but not as much as with traditional plowing with a moldboard plow. In minimum tillage specialized tillage and planting equipment are used so that only part of the soil surface is disturbed. One specific example of minimum tillage would be ridge till, in which 4-6 inch (10-15 centimeters) ridges are formed in the soil. The crop is seeded in the ridges, leaving much of the surrounding soil relatively undisturbed.
What is agricultural production?
Agricultural production, including forage production, involves removing vegetation from the soil surface. Plowing, cultivating, mowing, and grazing are examples of how vegetation is removed in forage production. The extent of soil erosion depends to a great degree on how the removal of vegetation is handled. Leaving the soil surface with little …
How can forage producers reduce erosion?
In addition to using conservation tillage to establish forage stands, there are other steps forage producers can take to minimize soil erosion. Planting windbreaks will help reduce wind erosion. Some studies have suggested that the reduction in wind speed may be effective as far as 15 times the height of the trees.
What is the result of desertification?
The result is the loss of soil that was once useful for food and forage production . In more recent years desertification has been defined as the process by which desert like conditions develop in areas that do not normally have desert climate. A number of causes have been suggested to explain desertification.
What is contour cropping?
This technique known as contour tillage, may sometimes be combined with strip cropping and is known as contour strip-cropping. Forage production typically involves haying and/or grazing animals. Hay cuttings should be timed to maintain a healthy productive forage stand.
How does soil erosion affect the environment?
The effects of soil erosion are not just land degradation. It has led to a drastic increase in pollution and sedimentation in rivers that clogs the water bodies resulting in a decline in the population of aquatic organisms. Degraded lands lose the water holding capacity resulting in floods.
Why is soil erosion worse?
This has been worsening due to human activities such as agriculture and deforestation. Soil erosion is a continuous process that occurs either slowly or at an alarming rate. It results in a continuous loss of topsoil, ecological degradation, soil collapse, etc. Let us have a detailed look at the causes, effects and prevention of soil erosion.
How to prevent soil erosion?
Soil erosion is a serious environmental issue. Steps should be taken to curb this problem. Following are some of the methods of soil erosion prevention: 1 Plant trees on barren lands to limit erosion of soil. 2 Add mulch and rocks to prevent the plants and grass underneath to prevent soil erosion. 3 Mulch matting can be used to reduce erosion on the slopes. 4 Put a series of fibre logs to prevent any water or soil from washing away. 5 A wall at the base of the slope can help in preventing the soil from eroding. 6 Every household should have a proper drainage system so that water flows down into proper water collecting systems.
How to prevent erosion on slopes?
Add mulch and rocks to prevent the plants and grass underneath to prevent soil erosion. Mulch matting can be used to reduce erosion on the slopes. Put a series of fibre logs to prevent any water or soil from washing away. A wall at the base of the slope can help in preventing the soil from eroding.
What happens to the soil in dry weather?
During dry weather or in the semi-arid regions, the minute soil particles are carried away by the wind to faraway lands. This degrades the soil and results in desertification.
What is the loss of arable land?
Loss of Arable Land. Soil erosion removes the top fertile layer of the soil. This layer is rich in the essential nutrients required by the plants and the soil. The degraded soil does not support crop production and leads to low crop productivity.
What do grazing animals do?
The grazing animals feed on the grasses and remove the vegetation from the land. Their hooves churn up the soil. They also pull out plants by their roots. This loosens the soil and makes it more prone to erosion.
What is the cause of soil erosion?
Deforestation for Agriculture Is One of the Top Causes of Soil Erosion.
How does agriculture affect soil?
Agriculture alters the natural cycling of nutrients in soil. Intensive cultivation and harvesting of crops for human or animal consumption can effectively mine the soil of plant nutrients. In order to maintain soil fertility for sufficient crop yields, soil amendments are typically required.
What causes soil compaction and erosion?
Tillage, Soil Compaction and Erosion Mechanical tillage and the use of heavy farm equipment can cause both soil compaction and soil erosion if soils are not managed effectively. When topsoil (the portion containing natural nutrients and organic material, which plants need to thrive) is lost, soil fertility is lost.
How to prevent erosion of soil?
Plants prevent wind and water erosion by covering the soil and binding the soil with their roots. The best choice of plants to prevent soil erosion are herbs, wild flowers and small trees.
What is soil degradation?
Soil degradation is a process in which the value of the land and its biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human actions and non-natural phenomenons. The degradation comes from several sources but it is mainly from extensive agriculture.
What is the biggest effect of soil erosion?
Loss of Topsoil. Obviously, this is the biggest effect of soil erosion.
What happens when the ground is barren?
Bare ground causes rain to run off swiftly, carrying with it sediment and soil nutrients. The result is erosion, less productive rangeland, and lower water quality.
What happens to soil structure during erosion?
The disruption of soil structure during erosion may lead to the immediate release of carbon dioxide. Enhanced emissions over longer time frames are associated with a reduction in the capacity of eroded soils to support plant growth 14, resulting in lower carbon inputs through plant and root matter 15.
How much sediment is eroded by agriculture?
From a critical analysis of these estimates, we calculate that sediment flux due to water erosion is about 28 Pg yr −1, and that a further ∼ 5 Pg yr −1 and ∼ 2 Pg yr −1 of sediment are mobilized by tillage and wind erosion, respectively, leading to a total sediment flux of about 35±10 Pg yr −1 (see Supplementary Information S1 ). This corresponds to an agricultural carbon erosion flux of 0.5±0.15 Pg C yr −1. Furthermore, we estimate that 0.08±0.02 Pg C is delivered to river systems by water erosion each year.
How much phosphorus is produced by soil erosion?
We estimate that soil erosion is responsible for a flux of 2.1–3.9 Tg of organic phosphorus per year, and 12.5–22.5 Tg of inorganic phosphorus per year (see Supplementary Information S1 ). However, owing to the limited availability of global soil phosphorus data, these estimates are uncertain. Global mean phosphorus fluxes are considerably lower than the 40 Pg of phosphorus stored in soils globally 9, but are similar in magnitude to crop uptake 6 (14 Tg yr −1) and fertilizer phosphorus additions to agricultural land ( ∼ 18 Tg yr −1 ). However, in some parts of the world, erosion-induced fluxes of phosphorus exceed phosphorus additions ( Fig. 1 ), placing soil fertility and food production under increased strain.
How does soil translocation affect carbon?
Furthermore, the translocation and burial of soil reduces decomposition of soil organic carbon, and could lead to long-term carbon storage. The cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus are strongly interrelated. For example, erosion-induced burial of soils stabilizes soil nutrient and carbon pools, thereby increasing primary productivity …
How much nitrogen is moved by erosion?
We estimate that around 23–42 Tg of nitrogen is moved by erosion each year. Lateral fluxes of nitrogen due to erosion are on the same order of magnitude as the 112 Tg of nitrogen applied to agricultural land in the form of chemical fertilizers each year 5, the 75 Tg of nitrogen removed in harvested crops each year 6, and the estimated riverine fluxes of particulate nitrogen, which range between 23 and 30 Tg N yr −1 (refs 7, 8 ).
What are the potential impacts of soil processes on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nutrients such as nitrogen and?
The potential impact of soil processes on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, remains one of the great uncertainties in our knowledge of global climate change 1, 2. Beginning with the pioneering work of Stallard 3, scientists have become increasingly aware that lateral fluxes induced by soil erosion …
Why is productivity reduced?
The reduction in primary productivity is not only due to the removal of nutrients, but also to the degradation of soil structure and, critically, to a reduction in the availability of water as soil thickness declines. More subtle interactions may also take place.
