IntroductionSoil erosion is a process that occurs naturally and has an effect on all kind of lands. Soil erosion is seen as a corrosion of the soil of the land by the natural forces of wind and water or the effects with the activities like farming(Hyde 5). The process of soil erosion even if it is caused by water, tillage or wind it occurs through three kind of actions. The first sign of soil erosion is movement, the followed by the movement of the soil and finally getting out from its place. The topsoil which is always full of water, soil life in the plants is relocated to another place where its gathering comes on a given period of time.
However sometimes it’s transported somewhere else where it gets in to the drainage and water. Sometimes the occurrence of soil erosion decreases the growing on lands and takes it also to the watercourses, lakes, and wetlands that are close to it.BackgroundThe importance of many solutions for protecting soil decreases the effect of soil erosion by wind, water, and etc. When cropping on tillage and other lands, management have a serious effect on the cause of soil erosion as well as the solutions done in the field. However,the problem of soil erosion may be hard. Therefore, some ways are used for structural controls as the solution for the problem. For example, the structural controls may have grass waterways, drop pipes, sediment regulation basins and rock chutes (Hudson 23).Materials Needed for the ExperimentA sharp knife for cuttingAn empty containerWaterNotebookStopwatch3 traysSoil (to fit to all the 3 trays)Beaker 500 mlPlantsScale (grams)RulerPreparationFirst of all I need to cut some holes underneath the tray where the plants will be in.
The hole allows the air to get in. I will have a beaker that can water from above the plants which should be considered as rain.Three trays should be filled with soil. Some little space should be left at the top so that the water and the soil do not get out above the edges.
The soil layers that are filled should be 12 centimeters deep.For some time I could keep seeds in my trays to let them grow in. However, that would take a lot of time. To give me more time of the completion of my experiment I would need to find some plants to use and put in the trays.After I get my plants, I then put 2 plants in the first tray, 3 plants in the second tray and 4 plants in the third tray.
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In order to have a more accurate experiment I should keep the plants away from each other when laying them out in the soil.After that I get my ruler to measure the angle of the tray, I then keep it on 5cm tilted. The purpose of the angle of the tray is to try and do a small slope like a hill.Then I bring a block of height of 5cm which should be placed under the tray to stay tilted. The purpose of this step is to allow the soil and water to pour onto the container.The previous step should be repeated using another block and tray so we could get more setups.ProcedureI then fill up the beaker to have 500ml with water.
The beaker is then used to pour water (rain) over one tray. While the water is pouring on the tray I will have the container under the tray which has the soil in to get the soil and water that comes out. The beaker that is pouring water should be held high enough so that the water gets everywhere on the plants.
While doing the experiment I should be prepared because the water might go to one part of the tray and water might fall out of the container. Although I also should take in consideration that amount of water that I fill up is the same as the other trials. Also the tray that is tilted in the similar way should be the same as the other trials. The reason why I should look at these carefully because the effect of changing the variables might affect my results in the end. After that, I place the container on to the scale to measure the mass that resulted from the water.Later on, when I note down the result I continue on doing the previous steps on to the next five trials in the same tray.
Depending on the soil type, erosion may not be noticed after the first trial. To have a clear view of the amount that was eroded in the container, the container should be a little bit tilted so the water and soil pours into it easily. Then the amount of eroded soil for all the trays should then be compared.
After making the comparisons, the amount of the eroded soil should be written down.Furthermore, the analysis of the data collected should be seen in comparison to what happens in the real-world situation.Observations and ResultsThe observation that should be made at my experiment is that the trials should be that more soil was washed away from the tray. The observation is that the heavy raindrops falling on the soil causes pieces to break and creating little cracks. Another observation is the breaks of soil after each trial. At the beginning, the soil could probably defend itself against a large percentage of rain. But then with the nonstop of the rain, the soil loses its ability to hold the water away from the soil and this could be the reason where my experiment had a downside when the water had started coming out to the ground after some trials.
When the water starts going on top of the soil and also down, it tells the soil that it is full with water and it cannot gain any more water. The water that goes on the surface of the soil is called runoff. When the water drains, it holds small soil particles with it. The amount of soil going depends on the volume and speed of the flowing water, also other things such as the terrain and the type of the soil. The use of the set up with plants in the experiment saw a little water flowing off the tray. The grip of the plants on the soil particles was strong. Finally, the more eroded soil was collected from the rain that fell on soil after the second trial which is when the plants started to get loose.
Results Mass of soil and water (grams)Raw DataTrial’s:Trial 1Trial 2Trial 3Trial 4Trial 5Tray’s 500 ml500 ml500 ml500 ml500 mlTray 12 plants438462490465493Tray 23 plants357396414453512Tray 34 plants336370410418452 The data shows that the amount of water collected in the container was decreasing from Tray 1 to Tray 3 as the number of plants per trial increased. That shows that when the amount of plants increases, more water is kept and only little water goes out over the soil to be collected in the container. Therefore, the plants play an important role in holding the soil in the surface and reducing soil erosion because if there were no plants in the trays for all the trials, all the 500ml of water would have flowed over the soil and collected in the container with some soil particles. The amount of water that came back by the plants as the number of trials rise to from one to five also decreases because the soil gets grouped with water with each trial. Therefore, its ability to gain more water reduces.DiscussionPlants Prevent Soil ErosionTherefore, the answer to the scientific research question as to whether the plants can prevent the effect of soil erosion is yes. There are numerous ways plants can use to help the reduction of soil erosion and the effects joined with the erosion of the soil by different impacts.
Water and wind are the main impacts that makes soil erosion easier. The amount of soil they transport is helped by two factors that could be useful against them. The two factors are speed and plant cover. Speed helps soil erosion in the feel that the quicker the impact of soil erosion moves, the more soil it can cause to get eroded.
Plant cover plays a greater role in protecting the soil because, when its not there, the water and wind cause a massive damage to the soil. Plants can give a protective cover to the soil and prevent the erosion of the soil because of the following reasons: Plants reduce the force and speed of water when it runs off the surface of the land. Like this reduction it can affect it in the speed of the water and makes the surface to have more water. The process of the plant cover making the ground to get more water speed. It is achieved because the roots of the plants hold the soil particles together and not letting the soil from getting eroded by the rain.
The plants also has the ability to defend the impact of the raindrops before it lands to the ground, so it reduces the ability to wash down the soil. Also the plants on the river and the wetlands reduce the flow of water which has the use of the strong roots on the soil, minimizing the erosion of the soil (Gómez et al. 2). The unavailability of protective plants shows the possibility of the soil to being carried away by wind and water.
Therefore, some weaknesses make the soil become easily affected by the impacts of erosion. The effect of erosion first removes the soil on top. After the removal of the soil on top there may be a few plants that can barely survive on soil. However without the plants and the soil, the land becomes empty and unable to give support to life. The strong windbreakers, planting of trees that grow tall around the farms or gardens, makes a protection that prevents the wind from blowing away the topsoil. The good thing of windbreakers is to assist in protecting plants from breaking which is caused by hard and strong winds. As well, the windbreakers also makes the improvement of the health of the plant, yield, and the quality. The plants or crops that get protection from the damage caused by wind and the erosion from heavy winds, gets the opportunity to get more water or liquid (Gómez et al.
4).Plants also reduce soil erosion by the deep growth of the roots that gives the hard defence against movement of the small soil particles. Bushes and grounds: Bushes and tough ground spreads are effective movements in causing the activities of the people of finding a way through a place. Rosemary, buttonbush, and juniper are strong and great plants (Sandercock et al.
79). The plants require little water once they start growing and do grow in the sunshine. Juniper grows in large numbers of collections. The rosemary plant makes a good useful plant that is for any green environment.
The buttonbush is another defensive crop of the water plant that grow in the soil. Therefore, it is a good and a alternative for the environments that are facing bad weathers. The impact of the bad weather atmosphere in many cases will have little effects on the soil with consideration to soil erosion (Sandercock et al.
86).
