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Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of ...
The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is a widely used mathematical model that describes soil erosion processes. [1]Erosion models play critical roles in soil and water resource conservation and nonpoint source pollution assessments, including: sediment load assessment and inventory, conservation planning and design for sediment control, and for the advancement of scientific understanding.
Soil erosion is the main factor for soil degradation and is due to several mechanisms: water erosion, wind erosion, chemical degradation and physical degradation. Erosion can be influenced by human activity. For example, roads which increase impermeable surfaces lead to streaming and ground loss.
Soil conservation is the prevention of loss of the topmost layer of the soil from erosion or prevention of reduced fertility caused by over usage, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination
Splash erosion is generally seen as the first and least severe stage in the soil erosion process, which is followed by sheet erosion, then rill erosion and finally gully erosion (the most severe of the four). [10]: 60–61 [13] In splash erosion, the impact of a falling raindrop creates a small crater in the soil, [14] ejecting soil particles. [4]
Soil erodibility is a lumped parameter that represents an integrated annual value of the soil profile reaction to the process of soil detachment and transport by raindrops and surface flow. [1] The most commonly used model for predicting soil loss from water erosion is the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) (also known as the K-factor ...
Soil loss tolerance for a specific soil, also known as the T value, which can be calculated with = + [1] formula, is the maximum average annual soil loss expressed as tons per acre per year that will permit current production levels to be maintained economically and indefinitely.
On the level of a complete ecological niche or ecosystem, nutrient depletion can also come about via the loss of the nutrient substrate (soil loss, wetland loss, etc.). Nutrients are usually the first link in the food chain, thus a loss of nutrients in a habitat will affect nutrient cycling and eventually the entire food chain. [2] [3]