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Soil erosion is often a result of forest clearing.
When there are no trees covering the soil, rainfall lands directly on the ground, rather than dripping gradually through the tree branches
and falling much more softly to the forest floor. This means that when it rains, more water hits the ground with more force, washing soil
away. On the ground in most forests, there is a layer of water-absorbing organic material such as decomposing leaves and wood.
Rainfall can soak into this layer instead of running off over the soil.
New housing developments are built on bare land where the soil is very susceptible to erosion. Photo credit Corel Photo Clipart CD. |
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erosion -- page 1 of 3
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