Soil erosion and its impacts on environment in Yixing tea plantation of Jiangsu Province

Abstract

Soil erosion on sloping field has led to a lot of environmental problems. In order to reveal the seriousness of the damage of soil erosion on sloping fields 137Cs tracer method was used to estimate soil erosion rate. 137Cs reference inventory of 2200Bq/m2 in Yixing, southern Jiangsu Province, was estimated and a model for estimating erosion of cultivated soil was established in order to avoid overestimating soil erosion rates. Then based on the soil erosion rates and measured soil physical and chemical properties, direct and indirect impacts of soil erosion on environment were further discussed. Direct impacts of erosion on environment included on-site and off-site impacts. The on-site impacts were that soil layer became thin, soil structure was deteriorated and soil nutrients decreased. The off-site impacts were that water bodies were polluted. The indirect impacts of soil erosion on environment were the increase of fertilizer application and energy consumption, and change of adaptability of land uses. Although erosion intensity was not serious in the study area, its environmental impacts should not be ignored because of great soil nutrient loss and coarseness of soil particles.