Why is erosion necessary

Rolled erosion control products RECPs like erosion control blankets offer an ideal solution. These natural vegetative covers provide various environmental advantages by minimizing erosion damage and degrading naturally into the soil. Erosion control is the practice of controlling or preventing soil erosion, especially in agricultural, conservation, construction and land development applications.

The everyday processes of these operations often lead to erosion and can significantly impact surrounding communities, plants and wildlife. Erosion control helps minimize those harms. Erosion can have insidious effects on communities and ecosystems and can also cause problems for agricultural construction and landscaping companies. Erosion control is essential for several reasons:. When sites use erosion control blankets, the vegetative layers absorb the energy of the rain as it hits them.

By doing so, they reduce the velocity of the subsequent runoff. The slower, less forceful runoff carries away only a small amount of sediment.

RECPs like erosion control blankets also act as filters to trap sediments and keep them from entering runoff streams. The blankets thus help maintain the integrity and absorptive capacity of the soil. Topsoil, which is the most likely part of the ground to erode, contains the most nutrients, so preserving soil integrity also means maintaining fertile land for vegetation growth.

Often, when sediments wash away in runoff, they carry chemical residues with them. The soil from a construction site, for instance, might contain paint, solvent or adhesive residues. These pollutants can diminish the water quality, affix themselves to the soil in other areas, stunt vegetation and poison local wildlife. Using erosion control blankets decreases these harmful effects. As erosion sweeps more and more sediment away, it can erode significant chunks of land over time, causing habitat loss for the wildlife species that live there.

Using erosion control blankets keeps soil in place to preserve habitats and help various species flourish. Though they do have applications for residential properties, most erosion control products find use in commercial or industrial applications:.

When farmers till their fields, they loosen the soil, and when these lands lie fallow, they lack the root systems that otherwise hold the dirt in place. Both scenarios raise the threat of erosion significantly. When topsoil erodes, it carries away many of the nutrients needed to grow abundant, healthy crops.

Agricultural runoff is also particularly insidious because it usually contains excessive nutrients like phosphates and nitrates from fertilizer and manure. When these nutrients run off into local water supplies, they can cause algae overgrowth, oxygen depletion, reduced water quality and the eventual death of many aquatic species. Damage is more likely to occur if a great deal of rainfall and water runoff flows over the land during storms.

Other factors are the length and slope of a piece of land, which can affect the speed and strength of water runoff. Vegetation—typical cropping as well as the strategic use of cover crops—can buffer the impact water has on a farm field. Land managers may also mitigate soil erosion through selective tillage practices.

Typically, farmers till their soils to prepare fields for seed planting, control weeds, and retain moisture. But decades of agricultural research has revealed that a less-is-more approach may be the best way to minimize soil erosion. In other words, reducing mechanical disturbance to farm fields may help preserve soil. Water, though vital for life and agriculture, can be incredibly corrosive. Every raindrop splash has the potential to impact the structure of soil.

Below are four common types of water erosion. Sheet erosion —the removal of soil in thin, uniform layers sheets by raindrop impact and shallow surface water flow. Sheet erosion can sometimes be difficult to detect unless the soil is deposited nearby or if the damage is already severe. This erosion process removes the fine soil particles that contain most of the important nutrients and organic matter. Rill erosion —a type of erosion that results in small yet well-defined channels—typically smaller than gully erosion channels.

After some time, rill erosion may fade away or, in more serious cases, be smoothed over with tilling. Gully erosion —the washing away of soil through deep grooves or channels across unprotected land. Gully erosion can refer to soil being washed away through human-made drainage lines or describe the process of soil traveling through grooves created by hard rains. Farmers will typically fill these grooves back in with fresh soil as a temporary solution.

As seen across the Midwest in , gully erosion can hinder the ability to plow fields and grow crops. Bank erosion —the progressive undercutting, scouring, and slumping of natural rivers and streams as well as man-made drainage channels by the intense movement of water. When land managers remove vegetation or ranchers allow their livestock to overgraze the land near streams and riverbanks, it can exacerbate the problem.

Bank erosion represents a serious threat to lands around the globe. For example, the claylike soil of southwestern Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to erosion during the rainy season. Every year, riverbank erosion displaces tens of thousands of people and has a devastating impact on regional farming. The effect of soil loss depends on the type and depth of the topsoil that has been washed away. As topsoil is lost, the ability of the remaining soil to hold nutrients and moisture is diminished—which can greatly reduce crop emergence, growth, and yield.

Some seriously eroded soils are not usable for crop production at all. If areas remain flooded during the planting season, it can delay or impede the planting of new crops. Water erosion can also have dire consequences beyond farm fields: The devastating series of floods that caused destruction in much of the Midwest in sent record volumes of agricultural runoff into waterways. The impacts of excess fertilizer can be disastrous for aquatic systems as well as public health.

Each summer, high levels of manure and fertilizer are responsible for harmful algal blooms that not only kill marine life by depleting oxygen in the water but leave fresh water undrinkable and unsafe for recreation. Wind erosion is a natural process that moves loose soil from one location to another. Very strong winds, in fact, can form large, destructive dust storms.

In drier regions of North America, millions of tons of soil are lost to wind erosion annually. In October , a huge dust storm , visible from space, moved across the Great Plains , from Colorado into Nebraska and Kansas. One study found that dust storms have become more common and more intense over the past 20 years due to frequent droughts and the expansion of croplands. Soils types that are loose, dry, and finely granulated are less desirable for farmland, as these qualities create smooth surfaces and increase erodibility.

On the other hand, soil structure—roughness, clumps, and ridges—can help absorb wind energy and reduce erosion. Fields that are covered with vegetation or bordered by shrubs and trees also known as shelterbelts are also much less vulnerable, as the plants can help block wind. Last but not least, climate plays a big role in wind erosion: Studies suggest that a warmer climate would bring a greater risk of wind erosion on arid and semiarid lands.

Like water erosion, wind erosion can harm the fields where it picks up soil, as well as the areas where the dirt—and whatever minerals and contaminants it includes—are deposited. It can also have health impacts: worsening air quality, obscuring visibility, and causing people to experience breathing difficulties. Soil loss due to erosion causes agricultural income loss since agricultural areas that are subject to soil erosion becomes less fertile.

Why is soil erosion important? Aug 2, Because it causes soil loss in some areas. Explanation: Soil erosion is responsible for soil loss in some areas and soil deposition in other places. Related questions What is beach erosion? How does ice cause erosion? How does erosion happen?

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