Vegetation and Erosion


Book Description

Stressing the significance of vegetation in geomorphology, an often ignored area, it presents the results of the 1988 British Geomorphological Research Group conference, which brought together work in progress or recently completed on plant processes and geomorphological interactions. According to the editor, these results, while encouraging, are only a start, indicating a preponderance of past work dealing with vegetation simply as an extrinsic variable. The text focuses on vegetation as a highly dynamic and vital component that affects virtually all processes and therefore all geomorphological histories. By raising these and other issues, it indicates a variety of avenues for future investigation.




River Dynamics and Integrated River Management


Book Description

"River Dynamics and Integrated River Management” provides comprehensive information on rivers for integrated management, including natural processes, stresses resulting from human activities, and restoration of various parts of the river basin, including the watershed, mountain streams, alluvial rivers, estuaries, and natural and man-made lakes. Essential concepts, traditional and modern, such as river patterns, step-pool systems, vegetation-erosion charts, habitat diversity, and flushing times of bays, are clearly defined physically and explained with figures and pictures. Detailed mathematics and rigorous analyses are avoided so as to facilitate a holistic view of the subject of integrated river management. Researchers can easily familiarize themselves with the science of river management in its widest sense with the impressive pictures and examples in this book. Dr. Zhaoyin Wang is a professor at the Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, China. Dr. Joseph H.W. Lee is a Chair Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, China. Dr. Charles S. Melching is a Professor at the College of Engineering, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA.




Soil Erosion and Conservation


Book Description

Provides comprehensive treatment of soil erosion processes and their control and a practical approach of the design of soil conservation methods.




Soil erosion: the greatest challenge for sustainable soil management


Book Description

Despite almost a century of research and extension efforts, soil erosion by water, wind and tillage continues to be the greatest threat to soil health and soil ecosystem services in many regions of the world. Our understanding of the physical processes of erosion and the controls on those processes has been firmly established. Nevertheless, some elements remain controversial. It is often these controversial questions that hamper efforts to implement sound erosion control measures in many areas of the world. This book, released in the framework of the Global Symposium on Soil Erosion (15-17 May 2019) reviews the state-of-the-art information related to all topics related to soil erosion.




Vetiver Grass


Book Description

For developing nations, soil erosion is among the most chronic environmental and economic burdens. Vast amounts of topsoil are washed or blown away from arable land only to accumulate in rivers, reservoirs, harbors, and estuaries, thereby creating a double disaster: a vital resource disappears from where it is desperately needed and is deposited where it is equally unwanted. Despite much rhetoric and effort, little has been done to overcome this problem. Vetiver, a little-known tropical grass, offers one practical and inexpensive way to control erosion on a huge scale in both humid and semi-arid regions. Hedges of this deeply rooted species catch and hold back sediments while the stiff foliage acts as a filter that also slows runoff and keeps moisture on site. This book assesses vetiver's promise and limitations and identifies places where this grass can be deployed without undue environmental risk.




Reproductive Ecology of Tropical Forest Plants


Book Description

Reproductive Ecology of Tropical Forest Plants reviews recent developments in the reproductive ecology of tropical forest plants and explores the implications of current findings on forest structure, function, management, and conservation. It examines how insights gained from reproductive ecology can be helpful in the management of tropical forest resources and discusses directions of future research.




Combating Desertification and Land Degradation


Book Description

This book reports an approach developed to research and apply methods of assessing patterns of processes in the landscape, and suitability of different types of vegetation to mitigate soil erosion and sediment flux. Practical guidelines on a spatially strategic approach to management of land degradation at a range of spatial scales were produced. Originally developed for the Mediterranean environment, it has much wider potential global application. It provides researchers with methods to acquire the knowledge necessary for such an approach and provides practitioners with guidance on implementation and benefits of targeted methods of soil erosion control. It includes substantial information about processes and vegetation in the Mediterranean environment and the species effectiveness in soil erosion control.




Predicting Rainfall Erosion Losses


Book Description

The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) enables planners to predict the average rate of soil erosion for each feasible alternative combination of crop system and management practices in association with a specified soil type, rainfall pattern, and topography. When these predicted losses are compared with given soil loss tolerances, they provide specific guidelines for effecting erosion control within specified limits. The equation groups the numerous interrelated physical and management parameters that influence erosion rate under six major factors whose site-specific values can be expressed numerically. A half century of erosion research in many States has supplied information from which at least approximate values of the USLE factors can be obtained for specified farm fields or other small erosion prone areas throughout the United States. Tables and charts presented in this handbook make this information readily available for field use. Significant limitations in the available data are identified.




Predicting Soil Erosion by Water


Book Description

Introduction and history; Rainfall-runoff erosivity factor (R); Soil erodibility factor (K); Slope length and steepness factors (LS); Cover-management factor (C); Support practice factor (P); RUSLE user guide; Coversion to SI metric system; Calculation of EI from recording-raingage records; Estimating random roughness in the field; Parameter values for major agricultural crops and tillage operations.




Slope Stability and Erosion Control: Ecotechnological Solutions


Book Description

This book aims to assist in choosing ecotechnological solutions for slopes that are prone to a variety of mass movements e.g. shallow failure or erosion. The book reviews the types of problematic slopes that may occur and describes briefly the nature of mass movements and the causes of these movements. There is focus on the use of vegetation to stabilize soil on slopes prone to mass movements. The book also introduces new ecotechnological methods, and case studies are discussed.