ABSTRACT:
Investigations of sheet-rill erosion in a permafrost-free subarctic setting indicated that stripping all vegetation from the soil surface increased rainfall erosion 16 times over that produced from an undisturbed forest, from a rate of 0.008 ton per acre per year to 0.13 ton per acre per year. Removing the trees from a forested area, with only minor disturbance of ground cover, did not increase erosion. Very low erosion, 0.03 ton per acre per year, was measured from a vehicle trail on permafrost terrain. Comparison of measured erosion with erosion predicted by the universal soil loss equation indicated that the equation overestimated annual rainfall erosion by an average of 21 percent and overestimated individual storm erosion by an average of 174 percent.
Footnotes
James W. Aldrich is a hydrologist with Hy-drocon, Inc., P.O. Box 60007, Fairbanks, Alaska 99706: and Charles W. Slaughter is a research hydrologist, Institute of Northern Forestry, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701. This work was supported by the Institute of Northern Forestry, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Institute of Water Resources, University of Alaska.
- Copyright 1983 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.