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Are you tired of constantly dealing with the effects of soil erosion? Have you tried everything but still nothing seems like working? If yes, then your struggle ends here. By the end of this article, you will eventually feel quite confident about dealing with soil erosion.
The Hillside region is the most affected area where one can often witness the erosion of the soil to a greater extent. These are the most affected areas that need severe preventive and control measures.
But before we jump into any and every minute detail trying to eradicate the problem of soil erosion for a longer term, we need to understand a basic functioning that can help you stay away from the effects of soil erosion.
Hillside landscaping is the most basic yet the best way to deal with and probably keep the problem of soil erosion at bay for a longer time. Well-organized and even land, trees, and gardens often promote controlling soil erosion.
Let us continue to find out more details on soil erosion and some best tried & tested ways to control it.
What Is Soil Erosion?
Soil is a form of degradation that begins to degrade right after its upper layer gets displaced. This is usually a slow process; hence, it remains unidentified to the normal eyes. Although it might occur in a slow process, it still causes the same or even more damage to the land and the vegetation grown.
Soil erosion degrades the quality of the soil, which leads to poor production of the vegetation. Rain, wind, snow, animals, and humans are some common agents that promote soil erosion. Altogether there are 5 types of Soil Erosion, and they are as follows.
- Sheet Erosion
- Wind Erosion
- Rill Erosion
- Gully Erosion
- Ephemeral Erosion
Effects Of Soil Erosion
Now, since we have learned a little about soil erosion, let us dive a little more into detail and understand their effects to deal with them effectively. Below given are a few effects of soil erosion.
- Soil Erosion decreases the fertility of the soil.
- If once the soil gets eroded, it is bound to get eroded again and again.
- This leads to an increase in pollution.
- Loses newly planted plants.
- Loss of essential nutrients from the soil
What Causes Soil Erosion?
Soil erosion is usually a result of both, i.e., Man-Made action as well as a natural occurrence. Some activities of humans accelerate soil erosion, while some get accelerated naturally. Man-Made activities usually include deforestation, mining, agriculture, and many more, while natural activities include wind, rain, flood, etc.
Here are some main causes of Soil Erosion:
- Deforestation
- Logging & Mining
- Agriculture
- Overgrazing
- Using Agrochemicals
How to Control Hillside Erosion
Well, if you are reading this section, then it means you have failed to prevent your soils from getting eroded. But do not worry, we are here to help you. In this section of the article, we will be discussing some tried & tested effective methods of controlling hillside erosion and promoting healthy soils.
Planting Grass & Shrubs
Planting grass & shrubs work very effectively in keeping your soil even and protected from the agents of soil erosion. The roots of the plants hold the soil tightly and thus protects it from getting displaced. Thus, this method can be used to get effective results.
Building Terraces
Building Terraces is another great way of dealing with soil erosion. It firmly holds the soil from getting displaced by the agents like wind or water. Your terrace can be made of anything that you want. From normal woods to Concrete blocks.
Creating Diversions
Giving a direction to your drainage and creating diversions will give the excess water away to flow out. Which will eventually save your soil from getting damaged. You can easily build these diversions by digging at required places in regular intervals.
Adding Mulches or Rocks
Adding mulches or rocks will protect the soil by suppressing it down. It will also protect the small grown plants from getting washed away by the water. Hence, one can add mulches or rocks to control soil erosion in the hilly side regions effectively.
Avoiding Soil Compaction
Most of the time, when people or animals walk through wet soils, they compact the soil present underneath. This must be avoided as it compacts the soil and resists water or the plants’ roots seeping deeper. Hence avoid walking upon the soil, especially when it is wet.
The above methods are proven methods that are well tested and tried. So, feel confident trying them for better results.
Why Does Soil Erosion Occur Mostly in the Hillside region?
Soil gets eroded easily under the influence of wind, water, or any other human activities. Especially in a Hillside area, one can witness soil erosion to a greater extent. The reason for this is uneven land area.
The Hillside area has sloppy lands, which play an essential accelerating agent in eroding the soil. As the land is sloppy or highly inclined, even the slightest wind tends to take the soil along with them very easily.
When the area is affected by rain or flood, the water tends to move very forcefully, and as there is no barrier acting during the flow, the soil gets washed away with the flow easily, leading to soil erosion.
The other reasons like Climatic changes and some Human activities also play a major accelerating the erosion of soil in such areas.
How Can Soil Erosion Be Prevented?
As rightly said, “Prevention is better than cure.” One should always focus on practicing more and more preventive measures to avoid a severe crisis in the future.
Below given are a few preventive measures that you can rely on to prevent your soils from getting eroded effectively.
- Planting Vegetation
- Matting The Soil
- Reduce Watering
- Reduce too much wind exposure!
- Bunding
- Building retaining walls.
Conclusion
The Hillside region is the most affected region that experiences extreme levels of soil erosion. And thus, these regions need utmost prevention and effective control methods to stop the degradation of the soil. To do that, we have tried to help you with this article that provides you with a step-by-step understanding of the problem and then fighting it with some tried & tested effective methods.
Always remember to multiply your preventive measures once you have managed to bring control over the erosion of the soil. Strong preventive measures will protect you from facing severe ill effects of soil erosion.
We hope that our article proved to be of some help and provided you with the needed & effective information on the subject. If you still have any doubt or confusion on the subject discussed above, then please feel free to use the comment section below to voice it. We will get back to you with the best available knowledge on the same.
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