The difference a few plants can make to erosion of all kinds, including wind.
This past Friday and Saturday there was a large windstorm passing through the region with high wind gusts. This happens quite frequently in the winter with snow and will even fill in the ditches with the pretty white stuff. This time it happened when the temperatures were hitting 50+ degrees, where the ground was bare and it was damaged quite heavily. If the land didn’t have a cover crop or wheat planted, much of the top soil was blown off and put elsewhere. Those who lived in the area stated it was so dense one couldn’t see very well at all.
Wind erosion can happen anywhere and any time the wind is blowing. Wind erosion can occur in any area where the soil or sand is not compacted or is of a finely granulated nature.
Not only does wind erosion damage the land by drying out the soil and reducing the nutrients of the land, it can also cause air pollution. It can envelope crops, covering highways; and invading homes, the sand, dust, and dirt created from wind erosion can impact plant and human life in numerous ways.
Several ways to control erosion from wind include:
* Increasing the coherence of the soil: using organic matter sprayed on top of the soil or increasing irrigation, especially when the soil is very dry, can help retain moisture in the soil, holding it together.
* Increasing the surface of the soil’s roughness: By creating ridges of appropriate size wind erosion can be reduced.
* Increasing vegetation: by planting on the land, the ability of the wind to remove soil is greatly reduced. If the land is used for farming, planting a cover-crop in the off-season can substantially aid the top soil.
* Creating wind-breaks: by arranging the planting of trees around an area, wind erosion can be reduced in three ways. First, trees can reduce the amount of wind able to reach the soil. Second, shade reduces evapotranspiration, meaning the soil can retain moisture. Third, it just simply slows strong winds down around the area: think of towns with buildings and trees vs flat, open country.
Wind erosion doesn’t just happen to farms. All property owners need to be proactive in keeping their land in good condition because it effects more than just that particular year and more than than the current owner.
