What Is Soil Erosion And How Is It Working?

Erosion of soil is a deterioration of land due to the removal of its particles. It consists of three basic stages: dislodgement, transportation, and sedimentation. Their speed depends on the soil type, aggregation, infiltration, and ground cover. For example, well-aggregated fields are less vulnerable, and bare lands are the easiest to be destroyed. Slopes require additional protection from water erosion during rain showers, which can be addressed with cover crops, perennial grasses, or terrace farming.

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Causes Of Soil Erosion: Why Does It Happen?

There are natural and anthropogenic factors. Topsoil in fields is taken away by winds or quick water run-offs during heavy rainfalls. However, there is also the erosion of soil caused by farming itself when it is managed poorly.

Natural Factors Of Soil Erosion

• Strong wind gusts. Heavy winds remove dry tiny earth particles, which is a typical problem in semi-arid regions leading to desertification.
• Climate change. Abnormal rainfalls or temperature leaps destroy the field surface. Another effect of climate change on soil erosion is stunted vegetation growth that reduces field cover and exposes it to rains and winds.
• Rainfall and Flooding. Excessive rains wash away topsoil particles, while large raindrops hit the field surface and destroy it with heavy splashes. Running currents during floods is another cause of soil erosion.
• Wildfires. Trees and shrubs slow down water run-offs. When forests or buffer zones are destroyed by wildfires, water streams have no obstacles in their way.

Soil Erosion By Human Activities

Apart from natural factors, soil erosion occurs due to irresponsible farm management or deforestation for urban area expansion, tourism development, road construction, and more.

Farming Practices That Cause Soil Erosion

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Natural vegetation is by far better protection than crops because farmlands are more vulnerable to rainfall and winds. Besides, agricultural practices can cause soil erosion due to a reduction of biodiversity both in vegetation variety and soil microorganisms. In its turn, a lack of organic matter and beneficial biota negatively impacts field fertility because not only earth particles but nutrients are taken away from bare fields.

The primary causes of soil erosion due to poor farm management are excessive fertilization or irrigation, conventional tillage, monocropping, overgrazing, and more. Let’s consider the impact of the separate farming practices on erosive processes.

Does monocropping cause soil erosion? Monocropping, or monoculture, implies growing the same crop for several seasons. Since each crop requires particular nutrients, this practice causes field depletion. Consequently, it may result in land degradation and soil erosion.

Can conventional tillage cause erosion in fields? It can. In particular, moldboard plowing makes the earth loose contributing to agricultural soil erosion by water and winds. Conversely, no-till farming prevents these processes.

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Do fertilizers cause soil erosion? It may happen. Excessive use of mineral fertilizers under insufficient organic fertilization leads to dehumidification and destruction of its structure, which in turn makes it more vulnerable to erosive processes.

Does irrigation cause soil erosion? Sometimes it can. Artificial irrigation is the only way to produce crops under a lacking natural water supply but excessive irrigation can cause topsoil erosion. It particularly refers to surface irrigation when nutrients and topsoil particles are removed from uneven fields due to gravity.

Does overgrazing cause soil erosion? It does. Livestock overgrazing is a vivid example of poor pasture management that destroys topsoil cover promoting erosive processes. Rotational grazing and cover crops can solve the problem.

Does terrace farming cause soil erosion? It doesn’t. On the contrary, terrace farming prevents erosion by slowing down water streams on even platforms.

Erosion Of Soil Caused By Logging And Deforestation

Any tree felling can speed up erosive processes, be it timber harvesting or expansion of agricultural lands for oil palm cultivation. The clear-cutting practice, when all or most of the trees are removed, exposes the forestlands most.

• cast a shadow to protect its surface from drying out;
• fix the forestland with roots;
• slow down water run-offs;
• enrich the forest floor with organic matter.

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