Erosion control strategies? Soil erosion is a gradual process of movement and transport of the upper layer of soil (topsoil) by different agents – particularly water, wind, and mass movement – causing its deterioration in the long term. In other words, soil erosion is the removal of the most fertile top layer of soil through water, wind and tillage. What Is Soil Erosion? A Soil Erosion Scientific Definition: According to a Pereira and Muñoz-Rojas (2017) synthesis, soil erosion is one of the major causes, evidence of, and key variables used to assess and understand land degradation. Soil erosion is a consequence of unsustainable land use and other disturbances, such as fire, mining, or intensive agricultural uses. The loss of soil may have serious impacts on the quantity and quality of soil ecosystem services, with serious economic, social, and political implications.

Weathering and erosion slowly chisel, polish, and buff Earth’s rock into ever evolving works of art—and then wash the remains into the sea. The processes are definitively independent, but not exclusive. Weathering is the mechanical and chemical hammer that breaks down and sculpts the rocks. Erosion transports the fragments away. Working together they create and reveal marvels of nature from tumbling boulders high in the mountains to sandstone arches in the parched desert to polished cliffs braced against violent seas.

Erosion, therefore, includes the transportation of eroded or weathered material from the point of degradation (such as the side of a mountain or other landform) but not the deposition of material at a new site. The complementary actions of erosion and deposition or sedimentation operate through the geomorphic processes of wind, moving water, and ice to alter existing landforms and create new landforms. Read extra information on erosion control 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.

Cover crops such as turnips and radishes are rotated with cash crops in order to blanket the soil all year- round and produce green manure the replenishes nitrogen and other critical nutrients. Using cover crops can also suppress weeds. A mixture of farming methods intending the mimic the biology of virgin land. These practices can be used to prevent erosion and even restore damaged soil and encourage plant growth. Eliminating the use of nitrogen fertilizer and fungicides can increase yields and protect crops from drought and flooding.