ENVS 3080 Final: week 9

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Environmental Sciences
• Course: ENVS 3080
• Professor: Cheryl Fitz Gibbon

Document Summary

Unit 08: preventive measures for wind erosion and best management practices for overall erosion. The redu(cid:272)tio(cid:374) i(cid:374) wi(cid:374)d erosio(cid:374) rates i(cid:374) the u a si(cid:374)(cid:272)e the (cid:862)dust bowl(cid:863) shows that refi(cid:374)ed understanding of soil and wind dynamics, prudent soil management, and use of conservation practices could reverse the severity of wind erosion. In the rest of the world, wind erosion rates have, however, increased or remained the same, which warrants increased research on site-specific conservation practices. Adoption of appropriate farming practices can offset wind erosion. Intensive tillage, summer fallow, and residue burning are practices that increase wind erosion. Vegetative barriers, strip cropping, continuous cropping, crop rotations, no-till, minimum tillage, management of crop residues, cover crops, green manures, animal manure, and forages are recommended practices. Practices that stabilize soil aggregates and roughen the soil surface also control wind erosion. Wind erosion prevails in large and flat fields with smooth, bare, loose, dry and non-aggregated soils.