Agriculture 2013, 3(3), 418-442; doi:10.3390/agriculture3030418
Soil Erosion in Britain: Updating the Record
1
Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
2
Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
Received: 1 July 2013 / Revised: 29 July 2013 / Accepted: 30 July 2013 / Published: 8 August 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Erosion: A Major Threat to Food Production and the Environment)
Abstract
Concern about soil erosion on arable land in Britain dates back at least 40 years. Monitoring schemes and case studies have subsequently identified the areas at risk, the rates and frequencies and the major factors responsible for erosion. Initial concern focused on impacts on the farm and therefore on food production. Latterly the emphasis has shifted to off-farm impacts particularly reservoir sedimentation, muddy flooding of properties and the ecological damage to watercourses due to nutrient enrichment, pesticides and damage to fish spawning grounds from fine-sediment inputs. The shift has therefore been to concerns about a healthy and sustainable environment which includes soils. Government agencies, the water companies and the farming industry have lagged behind scientific studies in recognising and addressing erosion problems. Attempts at mitigation are now largely driven by the need to comply with the EU Water Framework Directive whereby watercourses must reach “good status” by 2015. Future changes in land use and climate will offer further challenges in terms of effective monitoring and compliance. View Full-TextKeywords:
soil erosion; Britain; on-site impacts; off-site impacts; watercourses; pollution
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Boardman, J. Soil Erosion in Britain: Updating the Record. Agriculture 2013, 3, 418-442.
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