Soil Erosion: Causes, Processes & Effects

Soil erosion is perceived as a major and widespread form of soil degradation and it has large environmental and economic impacts at different scales, especially in agricultural areas. Even though erosion originally is a natural process, influenced by physical factors, current human interventions in the landscape often accelerate natural erosion rates tremendously. Consequently, social, economic and political factors are decisive in determining soil erosion risk. This book gathers and presents current research from around the globe in the study of soil erosion, including research on erosion measurements and estimates with reference to water erosion in mountain environments; radiocaesium as a tool of erosion studies; and mitigation strategies to counteract soil erosion.