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

Land degradation from soil erosion has been considered by many to be a problem of significant proportion, affecting some 30-50% of the earth's land surface. At the time of the first publication of this book in 1993, estimates indicated that 10-15 million hectares of land were being lost each year through erosion and salinisation from irrigation and that at such a rate of loss, topsoil reserves on most sloping lands would be depleted within two hundred years. Since humankind's dependency on the land for food is almost total, soil erosion represents a real threat to the security of our food supply. The need for the immediate conservation of the world's soil resources is therefore clear. As part of the response to this need, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Commission on Ecology convened a special working group to consider the problem of world soil erosion and to propose practical solutions for soil conservation. This important book presents the outcome of their work.

Soil erosion is a major environmental issue with a worldwide impact and direct and indirect effects on soil productivity and consequently on human survival. Although a natural process, soil erosion has increased significantly due to human intervention, especially in the last centuries, through diverse activities such as intensive agriculture, overgrazing, urban sprawl, deforestation, and industrial and mining activities. Presently, soil erosion and degradation promoted by human action have reached extreme levels, necessitating urgent measures to promote soil conservation and rehabilitation. This book presents perspectives on soil erosion occurring in different parts of the world as well as some successful initiatives and strategies for soil conservation and rehabilitation.

Soil Erosion and Conservation provides a comprehensive treatment of the processes of soil erosion, the methods that can be used for their control, and the issues involved in designing and implementing soil conservation programmes. Features of the third edition of this internationally recognised textbook include: New material on gully erosion, tillage practices, erosion risk assessment, use of erosion models, incentives for farmers and land users, and community approaches to erosion control Updated sections on the mechanics of wind erosion, soil erodibility, use of vegetation in erosion control, traditional soil conservation measures, socio-economic issues and the role of government Describes the methods used to assess the risk of erosion and predict rates of soil loss Outlines the social, economic, political and institutional constraints on implementing soil protection measures Covers erosion and its control for agriculture, grazing, forestry, mining land, road banks, pipeline corridors and recreation Provides worldwide coverage of the success and failure of erosion control using material from Europe, Africa, Australia, America and Asia An Instructor manual CD-ROM for this title is available. Please contact our Higher Education team at [email protected] for more information.

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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.