topic 3 soil conservation

8/14/2019 TOPIC 3 Soil Conservation

1/18

Soil conservation

a set of management strategies for

1. prevention of soilbeing erodedfrom theearths surface or becoming chemically

altered by overuse, acidification,salinizationor other chemical soil

contamination. It is a component ofenvironmental soil science
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erosionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salinizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_soil_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_soil_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salinizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erosionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil


2/18

WAYS TO SOIL CONSERVATION

choice of vegetativecover

erosionprevention

salinitymanagement

acidity control

encouraging health of beneficial soil organisms

prevention and remediationof soil contamination

mineralization 2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erosionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salinityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liming_(soil)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_biologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_remediationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_remediationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_biologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liming_(soil)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salinityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erosionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetation


3/18

no till farming

contour plowing

wind rows crop rotation

the use of natural and man-made fertilizer

resting the land (Shmita)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmitahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmita


4/18

Discipline of science in soil

management

Many scientific disciplines are involved in

these pursuits, including agronomy,hydrology, soil science, meteorology,

microbiology, and environmental chemistry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agronomyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbiologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_chemistryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_chemistryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbiologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agronomy


5/18

Decisions regarding appropriate crop

rotation, cover crops, and plantedwindbreaksare central to the ability of

surface soils to retain their integrity, both

with respect to erosive forces and chemical

change from nutrient depletion. Crop rotationis simply the conventional alternation of

crops on a given field, so that nutrient

depletion is avoided from repetitive chemical

uptake/deposition of single crop growth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_rotationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_rotationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_crophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windbreakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windbreakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_crophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_rotationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_rotation


6/18

Cover crops serve the function of protecting the soil fromerosion, weed establishment or excessevapotranspiration; however, they may also serve vitalsoil chemistryfunctions

[1]. For example, legumes(Kekacang) can be ploughedunder to augment soil nitrates, and other plants have theability to metabolize soil contaminants or alter adversepH. The cover crop Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean) hasbeen used in Nigeria to increase phosphorusavailability

after application of rock phosphate[2]. Some of thesesame precepts are applicable to urban landscaping,especially with respect to ground-cover selection forerosion control and weed suppression.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evapotranspirationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legumehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet_beanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet_beanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legumehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evapotranspiration


7/18

Erosion prevention

Contour plowing, Pennsylvania 1938. The

rows formed slow water run-off duringrainstorms to prevent soil erosion and

allows the water time to settle into the soil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Contour_plowing.jpg


8/18

Human overpopulationis leading to

destruction of tropical forestsdue to

widening practices of slash-and-burnand

other methods of subsistence farmingnecessitated by famines in lesser

developed countries. A sequel to the

deforestation is typically large scaleerosion, loss of soil nutrients and

sometimes total desertification.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpopulationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_foresthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash-and-burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsistence_farminghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsistence_farminghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash-and-burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash-and-burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash-and-burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash-and-burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash-and-burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_foresthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpopulation


9/18

Salinity management

Salt deposits on the former bed of theAral Sea

Main article: Soil salinity control
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Seahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_salinity_controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aralship2.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_salinity_controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea


10/18

The ions responsible for salination are: Na+, K+,

Ca 2+,Mg 2+and Cl-. Salinity is estimated to

affect about one third of all the earths arable

land[6]. Soil salinity adversely affects themetabolismof most crops, and erosion effects

usually follow vegetationfailure. Salinity occurs

on drylandsfrom overirrigationand in areas with

shallow saline water tables. In the case of over-irrigation, salts are deposited in upper soil layers

as a
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arable_landhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arable_landhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drylandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drylandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arable_landhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arable_land


11/18

byproduct of most soil infiltration; excessive

irrigation merely increases the rate of salt

deposition. The best-known case of shallow

saline watertable capillary actionoccurred inEgyptafter the 1970 construction of theAswan

Dam. The change in the groundwater level due

to damconstruction led to high concentration of

salts in the water table. After the construction,the continuous high level of the water tableled

to soil salinationof previously arable land.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infiltration_(hydrology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saline_waterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capillary_actionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_tablehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_salinationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_salinationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_tablehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capillary_actionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saline_waterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infiltration_(hydrology)


12/18

Use of humic acidsmay prevent excesssalination, especially in locales where excessiveirrigation was practiced. The mechanisminvolved is that humic acids can fix both anions

and cationsand eliminate them from root zones.In some cases it may be valuable to find plantsthat can tolerate saline conditions to use assurface cover until salinity can be reduced; thereare a number of such saline-tolerant plants,

such as saltbush, a plant found in much of NorthAmericaand in the Mediterraneanregions ofEurope.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humic_acidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_zonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltbushhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterraneanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterraneanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltbushhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_zonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humic_acid


13/18

Soil percent hydrogen (pH)

Soil pH levels in Lake Titikaka tend to crop growth can occurnaturally in some regions; it can also be induced by acid rainor soilcontaminationfrom acidsor bases. The role of soil pH is to controlnutrient availability to vegetation. The principal macronutrients(calcium, phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, sulfur)prefer neutral to slightly alkalinesoils. Calcium, magnesium and

potassium are usually made available to plants via cation exchangesurfaces of organic materialand clay soil surface particles. Whileacidification increases the initial availability of these cations, theresidual soil moisture concentrations of nutrient cations can fall toalarmingly low levels after initial nutrient uptake. Moreover, there isno simple relationship of pH to nutrient availability because of thecomplex combination of soil types, soil moisture regimes andmeteorological factors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_(chemistry)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macronutrienthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calciumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkalinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_materialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_materialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkalinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calciumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macronutrienthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_(chemistry)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain


14/18

Soil organisms

Promoting the viability of beneficial soil organisms is an element ofsoil conservation; moreover this includes macroscopic species,notably the earthworm, as well as microorganisms. Positive effectsof the earthworm are known well, as to aerationand promotion ofmacronutrientavailability. When worms excrete egestain the form ofcasts, a balanced selection of minerals and plant nutrients is made

into a form accessible for rootuptake. USresearch shows thatearthworm casts are five times richer in available nitrogen, seventimes richer in available phosphatesand eleven times richer inavailable potashthan the surrounding upper150 mm of soil. Theweight of casts produced may be greater than 4.5 kg per worm peryear. By burrowing, the earthworm is of value in creating soilporosity, creating channels enhancing the processes of aeration anddrainage[7].
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthwormhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microorganismshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macronutrienthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potashhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poroshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poroshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potashhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macronutrienthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microorganismshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthwormhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species


15/18

Yellow fungus, a mushroomthat assists in organic decay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:K_1033CR08-9_Yellow_fungus_on_stalk.jpeg


16/18

The viability of soil organisms can be

compromised when insecticidesand herbicides

are applied to planting regimes. Often there are

unforeseen and unintended consequencesofsuch chemical use in the form of death of

impaired functioning of soil organisms. Thus any

use of pesticides should only be undertaken

after thorough understanding of residualtoxicities upon soil organisms as well as

terrestrial ecological

Degradation and contamination
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insecticidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbicidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecologicalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecologicalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbicidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insecticide


17/18

Killing soil microorganisms is a deleterious

impact of slash and burnagricultural methods.

With the surface temperatures generated, virtual

annilation of soil and vegetative cover organismsare destroyed, and in many environments these

effects can be virtually irreversible (at least for

generations of mankind). Shifting cultivationis

also a farming system that often employs slashand burnas one of its elements.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_and_burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifting_cultivationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_and_burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_and_burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_and_burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_and_burnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifting_cultivationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_and_burn


18/18

topic 3 soil conservation

Documents