What is erosion with erosion control guides? 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.

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.

Erosion will often occur after rock has been disintegrated or altered through weathering. Weathered rock material will be removed from its original site and transported away by a natural agent. With both processes often operating simultaneously, the best way to distinguish erosion from weathering is by observing the transportation of material. Moving water is the most important natural erosional agent. The wastage of the seacoast, or coastal erosion, is brought about mainly by the action of sea waves but also, in part, by the disintegration or degradation of sea cliffs by atmospheric agents such as rain, frost, and tidal scour. Read more information on erosion control guide.

Climate change may strongly influence soil erosion risk, namely through variations in the precipitation pattern. Forests may contribute to mitigate the impacts of climate change on soil erosion and forest managers are thus challenged by the need to define strategies that may protect the soil while addressing the demand for other ecosystem services. Our emphasis is on the development of an approach to assess the impact of silvicultural practices and forest management models on soil erosion risks under climate change.

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.