SOIL EROSION AND CONSERVATION

Preface of the Book

Soil erosion is a hazard traditionally associated with agriculture in tropical and semi-arid areas and is important for its long-term effects on soil productivity and sustainable agriculture. It is, however, a problem of wider significance occurring additionally on land devoted to forestry, transport and recreation. Erosion also leads to environmental damage through sedimentation,

pollution and increased flooding. The costs associated with the movement and deposition of sediment in the landscape frequently outweigh those arising from the long-term loss of soil in eroding fields. Major problems can result from quite moderate and frequent erosion events in both temperate
and tropical climates. Erosion control is a necessity in almost every country of the world under virtually every type of land use. Further, eroded soils may lose 75–80 per cent of their carbon content, with consequent emission of carbon to the atmosphere. Erosion control has the potential to sequester carbon as well as restoring degraded soils and improving water quality.

Since the second edition of Soil Erosion and Conservation was published in 1995, soil erosion has assumed even greater importance because of the higher priority now being given to the environmental issues associated with sediment. This revised edition recognizes more strongly that erosion is not just an agricultural problem and that loss of soil from construction sites, road banks and pipeline corridors can also result in unwanted and costly downstream damage, as well as hindering attempts at land restoration. Nevertheless, rather than these issues and environmental protection being discussed in detail, the decision has been taken to maintain the philosophy of the original book, namely to provide a text that covers soil conservation from a substantive treatment
of erosion. A thorough understanding of the processes of erosion and their controlling factors is a prerequisite for designing erosion control measures on a sound scientific basis wherever they are needed. The aim of producing a text with a global perspective on research and practice is also retained.

The text follows the structure of previous editions but substantial changes have been made to some chapters and minor revisions to the others. Following major advances in research over the past ten years, new material is included on the importance of tillage in moving soil over the landscape, the use of terrain analysis in erosion risk assessment, the use of tracers in erosion measurement, the validation of erosion models and problems of uncertainty in their output, defining soil loss tolerance by performance-related criteria, traditional soil conservation measures, incentives for soil conservation and community approaches to land care. The sections on gully erosion,
the mechanics of wind erosion, the dynamic nature of soil erodibility, the effects of vegetation on wind erosion and mass movement, economic evaluation of erosion control, the use of geotextiles and the use of legislative instruments in promoting soil conservation have been substantially rewritten. Updates have been made throughout the text. In line with the comments of reviewers
of the previous edition, the chapter on measurement is now placed before the chapter on modelling. In the revised text, this is certainly a more logical order. In addition, selected topics have been removed from the main text of each chapter and placed in a box at the end. The topics are either of generic background interest or relate to specific material that is best treated in a discrete way

Not surprisingly, in order to keep the text at a reasonable length and reasonable price, some material has had to be omitted. By trying to restrict omissions to material that is no longer relevant, either because scientific understanding has improved or because it is not mainstream to
erosion control in practice, it is hoped that nothing vital has been lost. Reference to seminal work of the 1940s to 1970s has been retained, partly to give an important historical context but also to maintain an awareness of what has been achieved in the past so as to discourage others from attempting unnecessary repetition.

The text remains based on courses given on the Silsoe campus of Cranfield University and,
again, contains material from research and advisory work carried out by myself, my colleagues and students. As before, the contributions of the last two groups are much appreciated. The text is intended for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying soil erosion and conservation as part of their courses in geography, environmental science, agriculture, agricultural engineering, hydrology, soil science, ecology and civil engineering. In addition, it provides an introduction to the subject for those working on soil erosion and conservation, either as consultants and advisers or at research and experimental stations.

Download Here

SOIL EROSION AND CONSERVATION