Credit hours
In-class work per week |
Practice per week |
Credits |
Duration |
Total |
2 |
2 |
8 |
15 weeks |
120 hours |
Instructor
Miguel Cooper
Objective
Train the student to comprehend soil erosion and degradation processes, understand their causes, consequences and impacts on agriculture and the environment. Estimate soil losses by the erosion process. Evaluate the most adequate soil erosion and degradation control systems for specific cases. Dimension erosion control systems and recommend their implementation together with best management practices.
Content
1) History of soil conservation in Brazil and the world, 2) Basic concepts and terminology, 3) Mechanics of the erosion process, 4) Processes of soil physical degradation, 5) Soil susceptibility to physical degradation and erosion, 6) Erosion prediction using statistical and mechanistic models, 7) Principles and practices of soil degradation and erosion control, 8) Soil erosion tolerance, 9) Relation between soil erosion, productivity and the environment, 10) Conservation management: history, evolution and tendencies.
Bibliography
Brooks, K.N., Ffolliot, P.F., Magner, J.A. Hydrology and the Management of Watersheds. Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, Iowa, 533p. 2014
Morgan, R.P.C. Soil Erosion and Conservation. Third Edition. Blackwell Publishing.2005.
Flanagan, D.C.; Nearing, M.A. USDA - Water Erosion Prediction Project: hillslope profile and watershed model documentation. NSERL Report # 10, USDA-ARS National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, West Lafayette, Indiana, 290p. 1995.
Costantini, E.A.C. Manual of Methods for Soil and Land Evaluation.Science Publishers, 549p. 2009.
Julien, P.Y. Erosion and Sedimentation. Cambridge University Press, 280p. 1995.
Lal, R., Blum, W.H., Valentin, C., Stewart, B.A. Methods for assessment of soil degradation. Advances in Soil Science, CRC Press LLC, 554p. 1998.
Renard, K.G., Foster, G.R., Weesies, G.A., McKool, D.K., Yoder, D.C. Predicting soil erosion by water: A guide to conservation planning with the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE). USDA, Agricultural Handbook No. 703, 404p. 1997.
Schmidt, J. Soil Erosion. Application of physically based models. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 318p. 2000. Wischmeier, W.H., Smith, D.D. Predicting rainfall erosion losses: A guide to conservation planning. USDA, Agricultural Handbook 537, Washington, DC. 1978.