Introduction to Soil Erosion
The process of wind and water moving sediments away from their original place is called soil erosion. Soil Erosion has become a big threat to communities in South Africa. It hurts the land and water resources in Africa. Since soil erosion is a natural process, we cannot change what it does and it has increased due to the human activities that have sped up. The annual soil loss in South Africa is about 300 to 400 million tons. Many organizations are now trying to monitor the soil erosion.
How Soil Erosion Affects Ecosystems
Soil erosion can affect more than just the appearance of the land, but they can affect the surrounding ecosystems! This is a major problem in Africa because when soil erodes, plant life may die off with it. As plants die off, animals may not have a place to live any more either. In Africa, most people need these animals to provide food, milk, and clothing for them. Also, there may be natural medicine in some of the plants that will die off because the soil can’t support it. Eroding soil is difficult, because humans in Africa probably have a hard time controlling this because of lack of resources or money.
Population and Soil Erosion
Population increase is also a large problem within Africa. As people come scrape the land and move the soil around, the soil becomes less healthy and is much more prone to erosion. Most Africans build mud huts, which as you can imagine, requires lots of moving soil around. This isn’t good for it and leaves the soil unhealthy.
How Drought Affects Erosion
Drought is surprisingly closely related to erosion. When Africa is in a drought or is very dry, the soil doesn’t have an opportunity to stay compacted because it is not moist.
How Soil Erosion Affects Ecosystems
Soil erosion can affect more than just the appearance of the land, but they can affect the surrounding ecosystems! This is a major problem in Africa because when soil erodes, plant life may die off with it. As plants die off, animals may not have a place to live any more either. In Africa, most people need these animals to provide food, milk, and clothing for them. Also, there may be natural medicine in some of the plants that will die off because the soil can’t support it. Eroding soil is difficult, because humans in Africa probably have a hard time controlling this because of lack of resources or money.
Population and Soil Erosion
Population increase is also a large problem within Africa. As people come scrape the land and move the soil around, the soil becomes less healthy and is much more prone to erosion. Most Africans build mud huts, which as you can imagine, requires lots of moving soil around. This isn’t good for it and leaves the soil unhealthy.
How Drought Affects Erosion
Drought is surprisingly closely related to erosion. When Africa is in a drought or is very dry, the soil doesn’t have an opportunity to stay compacted because it is not moist.