Soil Erosion: The Greatest Challenge for Sustainable Soil Management
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About this ebook
Our understanding of the physical processes of erosion and the controls on those processes has been firmly established. Nevertheless, some elements remain controversial. It is often these controversial questions that hamper efforts to implement sound erosion control measures in many areas of the world. This book, released in the framework of the Global Symposium on Soil Erosion (15-17 May 2019) reviews the state-of-the-art information related to all topics related to soil erosion.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
An intergovernmental organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has 194 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union. Its employees come from various cultural backgrounds and are experts in the multiple fields of activity FAO engages in. FAO’s staff capacity allows it to support improved governance inter alia, generate, develop and adapt existing tools and guidelines and provide targeted governance support as a resource to country and regional level FAO offices. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, FAO is present in over 130 countries.Founded in 1945, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO provides a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and debate policy. The Organization publishes authoritative publications on agriculture, fisheries, forestry and nutrition.
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Soil Erosion - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
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FAO. 2019. Soil erosion: the greatest challenge to sustainable soil management. Rome. 100 pp.
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Cover photo: ©Carey Marks/University of Plymouth
Inside cover photo: ©Matteo Sala
Contents
ACRONYMS
GLOSSARY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 WHAT IS SOIL EROSION?
1.1 Types of erosion: water, wind, and tillage
1.2 Rates of soil erosion
1.3 Tolerable soil loss
1.4 Erosion, soil functions and the provision of ecosystem services
1.4.1 Erosional effects on soil productivity and crop yields
1.4.2 Economic and societal effects of erosion-induced yield reductions
1.4.3 Soil organic carbon and the regulation of greenhouse gases
1.4.4 Soil erosion and sedimentation
1.4.5 Agrochemical contamination in waterways
1.4.6 Wind erosion, desertification and human health
1.4.7 Erosional impacts beyond the economic sphere
2 EROSIONAL PROCESSES
2.1 Water erosion
2.2 Wind erosion
2.3 Tillage erosion
3 CONTROLS ON EROSION PROCESSES
3.1 Factors influencing water erosion
3.1.1 Climate
3.1.2 Soil
3.1.3 Topography
3.1.4 Vegetation
3.2 Factors influencing wind erosion
3.2.1 Climate
3.2.2 Soil
3.2.3 Topography and field configuration
3.2.4 Vegetation
3.3 Factors influencing tillage erosion
4 SOIL EROSION ASSESSMENT: FIELD MEASUREMENTS AND MODELLING
4.1 Field assessment of erosion
4.1.1 Water erosion
4.1.2 Sediment yield from catchments
4.1.3 Wind erosion
4.1.4 Tillage erosion
4.1.5 Erosion assessment using fallout radionuclides
4.2 Models
4.2.1 Water erosion models
4.2.2 Wind erosion models
4.2.3 Tillage erosion models
5 REGIONAL AND GLOBAL MODELLING OF SOIL EROSION
5.1 Models based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)
5.2 Modelling for wind and tillage erosion
6 SUSTAINABLE SOIL MANAGEMENT AND SOIL EROSION CONTROL
6.1 Approaches to erosion control
6.2 No-till and erosion control
6.3 Mulching and other vegetative measures
6.4 Sediment trapping and terraces
7 SOIL GOVERNANCE AND THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DRIVERS OF EROSION
8 THE WAY FORWARD
8.1 Where is erosion happening?
8.2 How serious is erosion and what does it cost?
8.3 Why do unacceptably high rates of erosion continue to occur and what can we do about it?
References
ACRONYMS
FRNs | Fallout radionuclides
GAEC | Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition
GLASOD | Global Assessment of Land Degradation
GSP | Global Soil Partnership (of FAO)
IPBES | Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
ITPS | Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (of FAO)
LIDAR | ground-based light detection and range
MODIS | Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
MUSLE | Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation
NCP | Nature’s Contributions to People
PES | Payment for Ecosystem Services
RUSLE | Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation
RWEQ | Revised Wind Erosion Equation
RWSC | Revised World Soil Charter
SLEMSA | Soil Loss Estimation Model for South Africa
SOC | Soil Organic Carbon
SOM | Soil Organic Matter
SSM | Sustainable Soil Management
SWAT | Soil and Water Assessment Tool
SWSR | Status of the World’s Soil Resources (Report)
UNCCD | United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
USDA | United States Department of Agriculture
USLE | Universal Soil Loss Equation
VGSSM | Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management
WEAM | Wind Erosion Assessment Model
WEPS | Wind Erosion Predictions System
WEQ | Wind Erosion Equation
WOCAT | World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies
GLOSSARY
Conservation agriculture: a system of agronomic practices that include reduced tillage or no-till, permanent organic cover by retaining crop residue, and crop rotations, including cover crops (Palm et al. 2014).
Desertification: land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities (UN)
Erodibility: a measure of the soil’s susceptibility to detachment and transport by the agents of erosion (Lal and Elliot, 1994).
Dynamic replacement: The replacement of soil organic carbon lost by erosion by new carbon input from photosynthate from plants (Hardin et al., 1999)
Ecosystem services: The capacity of natural processes and components to provide goods and services that satisfy human needs, directly or indirectly (UN).
Fallout radionuclides: A radioactive isotope deposited from the atmosphere onto the soil. Ceium-137 has been widely used as a tracer for soil erosion studies (Mabit et al., 2018).
Fluvial transport: Transport of sediment within a stream or river channel.
Gully erosion: Soil detachment and transport by water flowing in channels greater than 0.3 m deep (Castillo and Gomez, 2016). Less formally, gullies are eroded channels that cannot be filled in by normal tillage operations.
Interrill erosion: Detachment and transport of soil by raindrops and overland flow; alos called sheet erosion (Lal and Elliot, 1994).
No-till: A system of planting (seeding) crops into untilled soil by opening a narrow slot, trench or band only of sufficient width and depth to obtain proper seed coverage. No other soil tillage is done (Derpsch et al. 2010).
Rainfall erosivity: The ability of rainfall to cause soil detachment and transport. Rainfall erosivity is a function of the direct raindrop impact and the runoff that rainfall generates (Lal and Elliot, 1994).
Rill erosion: Soil detachment and transport by water flowing in channels less than 0.3 m deep (Castillo and Gomez, 2016). Less formally, rills are eroded channels that can be filled in by normal tillage operations.
Runoff: Rainfall or snowmelt that