Chapter 7 Flashcards
(20 cards)
Process which lowers the
current or future capacity of
the soil to produce goods or
services
Soil degradation defined
are the weathering products
of rocks and minerals
Soil
❑ Caused by natural (due to soil
formation) or can be caused by
human activities such as:
a.
Continuous
application
of
ammonium sulfate
b.
Intensive cultivation without
addition of nutrients
c.
Draining coastal areas
Soil acidification
❑ Continuous removal of
nutrients without addition
in the form of fertilizer
Nutrient mining
❑ Removal of fertile organic matter
due to erosion exposes the
subsoil which is generally acidic
and less fertile.
❑ Caused by deforestation, burning
crop
residues,
conventional
tillage, and overgrazing
Loss of nutrient and organic matter
❑ Due to indiscriminate use
of
agro-chemicals
and
accumulation
of
toxic
heavy metals from the
industry,
mining
and
agricultural activities
Pollution
❑ Caused by long-term use of
farm
equipment
in
intensively cultivated lands
Pollution
❑ Due to indiscriminate use
of
agro-chemicals
and
accumulation
of
toxic
heavy metals from the
industry,
mining
and
agricultural activities and by overgrazing
Soil compaction
❑ human influenced erosion (e.g., over grazing,
deforestation, plowing hillside up & down)
Accelerated erosion
❑ Uniform
erosion
from the entire soil
surface
Sheet erosion
❑ Water concentrates in
small channel (rills) as
it runs off the soil
Rill erosion
❑ Advanced stage of rill
erosion
❑ Deep
channels
that
cannot
be erased
by
cultivation
Gully erosion
What are the different processes
of water erosion?
Detachment
Transportation
Deposition
runoff and sediments
are caught in a tray and
led through pipes to
collecting tanks which
retain all, or a fixed
proportion of the plot
output.
Erosion plots
• soil erosion is measured
by using isotope caesium-
137 (137 Cs).
tracers/radioisotopes
• small catchpits (receiving
reservoir) were dug at the
lower part of the slope to
catch eroded sediments
Catchpits
allows
generating
rainfall with a
known intensity and duration
on an erosion plot in a
controlled manner, making it possible
to
quantify
superficial runoff and soil loss,
while at the same time
allowing
a
very
detailed
erosion predictions.
rainfall simulator
•
nails or steel rods inserted
into the ground to
determine
which
ground advances and
ground retreats
Erosion pins
❑ Is the protection of the soil against deterioration,
loss, impoverishment or depletion of the soil’s
capabilities
soil conservation
❑ It is the act of placing a
protective
barrier
around
your
plant and over your bare
soil
Mulching
❑ The practice of plowing,
harrowing, and furrowing
along the contour of the
land
Contour farming
