Page 115 - Soil Degradation, Conservation and Remediation

Chapter 4
Wind Erosion

For environmental and pedogenic reasons, soils of the arid and semiarid regions are
usually dry, loose, low organic matter containing sandy soils susceptible to severe
damage by wind erosion. Human activities such as deforestation, overgrazing, over
exploitation of vegetation, soil and water resources have accelerated wind erosion
many fold. Wind erosion removes the lighter and less dense soil constituents like
organic matter, nutrients, clays, and silts. It significantly reduces soil productivity
and crop yield. Many soils have been abandoned, and desertification has advanced
in many places as an ultimate result of wind erosion. Effective soil conservation
methods have been used successfully for the reduction of wind erosion, restoration
of crop production, and rehabilitation of soils to agriculture. These measures include
stabilizing soil, ridging and roughening soil, cover crops, residue management,
mulching, mechanical barriers, and windbreak. Some innovative measures have been
employed in stabilization and rehabilitation of dunes, such as straw checkerboard
barriers in Michigan, USA, and Mauritania in West Africa, for example.

4.1 Causes of Wind Erosion

Wind erosion is a serious problem in the arid and semiarid regions where vegetation
is sparse, rainfall is low, and temperature is high. Potential evaporation is higher
than precipitation for most of the year, which causes depletion of soil moisture,
organic matter, and structure. Storms are regular events there, and in dry warm season,
strong winds uplift small soil particles and carry them to distant places. Ecosystems
in arid and semiarid regions are fragile by nature and are sensitive to human
disturbances. Under population pressure and socioeconomic backwardness, human
actions cause stresses on all natural resources. Land mismanagement, overgrazing,
overcutting for fuelwood and deforestation, and misuse of water resources have
been responsible for the loss of natural vegetative cover and hence accelerated wind
erosion. Comparative wind tunnel experiments have shown that wind erosion may

K.T. Osman, Soil Degradation, Conservation and Remediation, 103
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7590-9_4, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014