Vegetation cover hinders erosion by reducing the impact of rain drops and stabilizing soil particles in the root zone; densely forested land has the lowest erosion rates.
In areas that are dominated by bare ground and eroding rapidly, a burn might remove litter and other important ground cover, accelerating erosion and degradation.
This paper reports a Choice Modelling exercise valuing climate change impacts on plant cover, land erosion and fire risk in Spanish shrublands.
However, mechanistic frameworks that explicitly link land cover change, erosion and soil organic carbon (SOC) cycling and, in addition, can be applied to longer timescales are currently lacking.
Stocking ([1984]) suggested that lack of vegetation cover accelerates erosion, and Walling ([1999]) noted that a change in surface condition from natural undisturbed land to cultivation will in general result in an increase in the soil erosion rate.
The objectives of this study were threefold: to quantify SOC stocks across Tanzania; assess the effect of land cover and erosion on SOC; and investigate the relationship between inherent and dynamic soil properties under diverse land uses.
We surmised that this impression reflects an accidental bias in the selection of monitoring sites towards those with prevailing vertical hydrological flowpaths, rather than a tight causal link between vegetation cover and erosion alone.
Nearly all species of ivy will grow well in anything from full sun to deep shade, and all will provide excellent ground cover and erosion control.
Data on basal and litter covers, soil erosion and compaction, tick population dynamics and standing A. drepanolobium and A. mellifera were collected before treatment application.
Data on basal and litter covers, soil erosion and compaction, dead and re-sprouted encroaching tree/shrub species and nymph- and adult-stage tick populations were collected before and after treatment applications.
