Mitigation and Soil Erosion - faculty.washington.edu

Mitigation and Soil Erosion :Adam Baumeister ESS 315, Winter 2010 Erosion: Is the natural process of soil being moved from one place and deposited in another. Is radically expedited by humanitys use of land. Occurs primarily due to wind or water

movement, or agricultural practices. Terracing: A method of leveling sections of hillside for cultivation of agriculture Terraced bean fields in Iowa Terraced rice paddies in Yunnan Province, China Designed as a

method to make steep areas arable, as well as retain valuable topsoil from water erosion by slowing down the movement speed of the water from one step to another. Sa Pa, Vietnam Many terrace designs include either a small lip at the edge or a band of native vegetation on lower gradient slopes.

Strip Cropping: Strip Cropping in Kansas Alternation of several kinds of crops with differing root, stalk, growth density, and cover foliage properties. Helps restrict rapid flow of water at the surface as well as reduce surface level wind which

would carry tilled or dry topsoil away. A system of annually altering the uses of sections of land to maintain the quality of the soil and its nutrients. Crop Rotation: Typically Involves a combination of disturbing less

soil during planting and leaving biomatter from the previous harvest as cover. Conservation Tillage: Helps prevent wind and water movement from carrying away topsoil.

In Conclusion: Many of these techniques are used in tandem to prevent erosion from occurring, to protect the quality of the soil to increase production, and reduce the amount of chemicals added to protect the local water quality.

Sources: All photos selected from Creative Commons files available on http://images.google.com Erosion information: http://soilerosion.net/ Terracing information: http://science.jrank.org/pages/6770/Terracing.html

Crop Rotation information: http://www.baap.lt/codes_gap/lithuania/chapter_2.htm Strip Cropping/wind breaks: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1763.pdf Conservation Tillage: http://www.ncsu.edu/sustainable/tillage/tillage.html