But, in the field, further variables are used as indicators of the occurrence of soil degradation. Saharan africa ssa is of concern mainly because of its consequences for subsistence agriculture, from which about 75% of the population derives their livelihoods erkossa et al. Lulc maps of 19732015 were used to evaluate the impact of land use change on soil loss and sediment yield. Projections 2020 indicate a significant increase in built up area, agricultural land and bareland and a decrease of grassland. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice glaciers, snow, air wind, plants, animals, and humans. According to global assessment of soil degradation glasod, deforestation is the main cause of soil erosion by wind in about 98% of the area. It is an insidious process removing the most productive soil layer first and able to cause decreasing productivity at hardly perceptible transport rates over longer periods of time. The causes of land degradation in this category will require. Land use and cover change, soil erosion, remote sensing, gis, narok county. More land is cleared and less left fallow, which can deplete the soil and increase water runoff. Soil erosion, land degradation, tea productivity doi. The world is losing 10 ha of arable land each minute5 ha to soil erosion, 3 ha from salinity, and 2 ha by. Read this article to learn about the meaning, factors responsible, prevention and control measures of land degradation.
Chapter 7 economic consequences of land degradation. Leaving unploughed land strips between ploughed ones, known as strip cropping, also help reduce erosion. Wind erosion can be caused by a light wind that rolls soil particles along the surface through to a strong wind that lifts a large volume of soil particles into the air to create dust storms. Soil erosion is the most serious precursor of soil degradation that comes with global implications. Download product flyer is to download pdf in new tab. Two common factorssoil erosion and depletion of soil organic matter.
Soil erosion is the displacement of the upper layer of soil, it is one form of soil degradation. Unlike previous studies that dealt with soil erosion as a static process, here we shed light on the impacts of 21st century global land use change on soil erosion. The literal translation of arable land is able to be ploughed. Soil and land degradation are interrelated issues and often come up in the same context. Land degradation by soil erosion is still one of the most severe environmental issues of our time. Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. Enhancement description implement a crop rotation management system on crop land acres that have recently converted from crp grasslegume conservation cover to annual planted crops.
Deforestation and inappropriate agricultural practices especially on sloping lands often lead to soil erosion, a key process leading to land degradation. This publication summarises the lessons learnt from a faoiaea coordinated research project on the impact of soil conservation measures on erosion control and soil quality over a fiveyear period across a wide geographic area and range of environments. It encompasses physical soil erosion, chemical salinity and alkalinity, pollution and biological deterioration pollution and. This study aimed to estimate total amount of soil loss and sediment yield using rusle model within gis environment. Desertification, land degradation and sustainability wiley. Overgrazing and poor farming techniques can also lead to soil erosion, but it is important to remember that not all causes are human. Land degradation and sustainable land management practices. Soil erosion and land degradation have been a severe problem in the ethiopian highlands due to dense population, high livestock density and intensive crop production in.
Just as soil erosion is a component of soil degradation, soil degradation is a component of land degradation. Land degradation and ecosystem services uzh department of. Peat erosion the uk has around 15% of the worlds blanket peat, a unique ecosystem that covers around 8% of the uk land area, mainly in upland britain. Soil erosion is a natural process in mountainous areas, but is often made much worse by poor management practices. Preserving the worlds land from soil degradation ific.
While wind erosion is most common in deserts and coastal sand dunes and beaches, certain land conditions will cause wind erosion in agricultural areas. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. Ethiopia is known for its historic agriculture, but also for the associated, widespread, and ongoing land degradation. With a high rate of population growth, subsistencebased rural economy, and increasingly intense rainfall. Soil degradation causes include agricultural, industrial, and commercial pollution. Soil degradation is the loss of land s production capacity in terms of loss of soil fertility, soil biodiversity, and degradation. Land degradation and livestock production in zimbabwes. In this report, land degradation is defined as a negative trend 4 in land condition, caused by direct or indirect humaninduced processes including anthropogenic. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of humaninduced processes acting upon the land. This erosion is the dominant form of soil degradation troeh et al. Land degradation food and agriculture organization of the united.
Soil physical damage is an increasingly serious problem for agriculture. Nearly 10 million hectares of arable land are lost to erosion and other forms of soil degradation every year 1 countries all over the world are battling with worrisome sight of deepening gullies crisscrossing the landscape and barren fields stripped of the fertile topsoil. This is indeed the most visible effect of soil degradation, but does not cover all of its aspects. Soil erosion removes the most fertile soil layer pan and wen, 2014, which not only leads to the land degradation and fertility loss, but also influences the associated biogeochemical cycles, such as the siltation and eutrophication of water. Land degradation as the land use section earlier in this chapter shows, demands on the land for economic development and pressures from a burgeoning population are leading to unprecedented land use change. The change in the characteristic and quality of soil which adversely affect its fertility is called as degradation. Peatlands are important repositories of carbon, biodiversity, and. The decline in quantity and quality of soil it includes erosion by wind and water biological degradation loss of humus physical degradation loss of structure, permeability, compaction chemical degradation reduced fertility, salinisation, changing ph, toxicity if degradation is so severe that land becomes unusable it is termed desertification.
In the case of soil erosion, some of the effects may appear to be reversible, through checking further erosion by soil conservation programmes and restoring lost nutrients and organic master. Where land has been lost by gullying, or severe sheet erosion has removed the soil clown to a gravelly residue, degradation is clearly irreversible. Impact of soil conservation measures on erosion control. Accelerated waterrelated soil erosion has become a major threat to societys wellbeing, raising numerous environmental problems. In lieu of an abstract, this is an excerpt from the first page. Land degradation soil degradation is the decline in soil quality caused by its improper use, usually for agricultural, pastoral, industrial or urban purposes. Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental and public health problems facing. In addition to erosion, soil quality is affected by other aspects of agriculture. Land degradation, soil erosion and soil conservation pmf ias. These impacts include compaction, loss of soil structure, nutrient degradation, and soil salinity. Soil erosion and degradation in northern thai uplands. About 40% of the worlds agricultural land is lost on the account of soil quality depreciation caused by agrochemicals and soil erosion. Destruction of natural vegetation cover is a major factor responsible for erosion of soils by water and wind. Desertification has been defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities11.
While data is not precise, it is estimated that losses of nutrients and productivity in agricultural and grazing areas costs over. View soil erosion and land degradation research papers on academia. The central highlands of ethiopia are characterized as a region of high rates of land degradation and soil erosion. Assessment of land degradation by erosion soil loss by water, e. The human dimension of land degradation and forest degradation. Onsite effects of accelerated soil erosion include decline in soil physical properties, loss of soil organic carbon and loss of plant nutrients and subsequently low crop productivity. The effects of soil erosion go beyond the loss of fertile land. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and the. Land degradation is a broader term referring to the decline of the entire ecosystems ability to provide goods and services.
Category i erosion and sedimentation, salts and alkali, organic waste and infectious organiems. Glasod is a map of perceptions, not a measure, of land degradation. Farmers observations of land degradation processes support the quantitative data. Land degradation indicators and management options in the. It has been estimated that due to desertification and. Land degradation, particularly soil erosion, is currently a major challenge for nepal. Because soil degradation contributes to land degradation, it also means that it creates a significant loss of arable land. Ihe result is a dastic revision of previous land degrdation cost estimates in two respects. Sivakumaran sivaramanan at central environmental authority sri. Pdf soil degradation is one of the major global threats. Prevention and remediation of soil erosion and degradation. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.
Soil degradation is a narrower term, and one form of land degradation, for declining soil quality, encompassing the deterioration in. The most effective method to prevent erosion is to increase the vegetation cover on soil, thus preventing wind and water erosion. Soil degradation is a serious global environmental problem and may be exacerbated by climate change. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. Agricultural development and improvement plays a major role in the overall economic development of iran. An apparent contradiction emerges between the high observed levels of soil erosion and the lack of impact on livestock production, as measured by population density trends, cattle production parameters, cumulative stocking levels and extraction rates. Pdf on apr 9, 2014, velibor spalevic and others published land degradation, land use and soil erosion. An assessment of the global impact of 21st century land.
In turn, unsustainable land use is driving land degradation. Soil erosion is a common term that is often confused with soil degradation as a whole, but in fact refers only to absolute soil losses in terms of topsoil and nutrients. The impact of land use and land cover lulc dynamics on. Change pathway and intersection of rainfall, soil, and. Free abstract download pdf soil surface texture and vegetative cover as a function of aeolian particulate matter generated in the jornada basin of new mexico authors. Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. First, the authors argue that past estimates have overestmated the impact of soil erosion and that new data and more reasonable assumptions suggest that tlis problem is more mangeable. The present rate of land degradation is estimated at 5 to 7 million hectares per year, suggesting that 0. This erosion is the dominant form of soil degradation. Pdf land degradation, particularly soil erosion, is currently a major challenge for nepal. Soil degradation a major threat to humanity summary. Deforestation causes fast degradation when the soil is steep sloppy or easily erodible. The older agricultural areas of the northeast have long been particularly affected, but the highest soil erosion rates are currently being observed in the western parts of the high lands.
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