Global Degradation of Soil and Water Resources

This book focuses on soil and water conservation at global scale. It is a serious environmental problem that will threaten the socio-economic well-being of the majority of global population in future. The book examines the current situation of land degradation in multiple regions of the world and offers alternative approaches to solve the problems through sharing advanced technologies and lessons learned. It provides comprehensive assessment on characteristics, level and effect of degradation in different regions. It's a highly informative reference both for researchers and graduate students.

Auteur

Rui Li is the president of World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWAC). Since 1972 he has been involved in research on soil and water conservation planning, land resources investigation and monitoring of soil erosion using remote sensing, and made research achievements and contribution to regional soil and water conservation, application of remote sensing and GIS. He finished more than 30 projects as the leader or chief scientist, and 12 projects have been awarded at national and provincial levels. He has more than 130 papers published on the journals and international conferences and 15 books published as the chief editor or co-editor.

Contenu

Overview of global soil and water stress Background of soil and water degradation in the world.- Actions of soil and water conservation in the world.- Global Challengers of soil and water in the world.- Impacts of soil losses through sealing and excavation.- Soil erosion and its impact on greenhouse gasses.- Assessing multiple, concurrent and interactive land and soil degradation processes.- Africa Water and soil resources in North Africa: Potentials and degradation.- Institutional and technical efforts for soil and water conservation in North Africa.- Agricultural Soil and Water conservation issues in East Africa.- Soil and water conservation issues in South Africa.- Agricultural intensification and soil and water degradation in West Africa.- Discussion of conservation programs and policies employed in Africa to resolve soil and water degradation problems.- Soil and water resources issues in Sub-Sahara Africa.- Soil degradation in Africa: Extent of degradation and efforts underway to restore degraded land including use of beneficial soil microbes.- Restoration of the productivity of Mediterranean and tropical cultivated soils.- Soil and water conservation in the mid-East.- Characteristics of Soil and water resources in Yemen.- Soil conservation practices in the United Arab Emirates.- Sustainable use of soil and water resources to combat degradation in Egypt.- Asia Soil erosion environment and evolution in China.- Soil erosion by water and control technology in China.- Soil erosion by wind and control technology in China.- The landslide/debris flow and control technology in China.- Soil and water conservation policies change in the Yellow River Basin, China.- Degradation Hazards and Conservation Approaches for Hillslope Farming in Taiwan,China.- Soil and water conservation in Southeast Asia.- Assessment, implications and management strategies of soil erosion by water within the Indian sub-continent.- Land degradation in Iran.- Soil erosion on agricultural lands of the Asian part of Russia: processes, intensity and areal distribution.- Ecological consequences of soil degradation and water pollution in the Asian part of Russia.- Europe Identification of soil and water resources problems in Europe.- Techniques for soil and water conservation in Europe.- Soil and water conservation programs and policies in the United Kingdom.- Soil and water resources problems in Europe.- Integrating soil, water and biodiversity policies: a case study from Scotland.- Soil protection policies in the European Union.- Legislating soil protection in Germany and Austria.- The sea as a framework for agricultural activities and the Anthropocene.- Natural resources and socio-economic effects of erosion and its control in Serbia.- Soil Erosion and Torrent Control in Western Balkan Countries.- Decision making in the torrential flood management by check dam construction.- Soil Erosion and Flooding in Bulgaria - Risk Assessment and Prevention Measures.- Identification of soil resources problems in European Russia.- Integrated solution to soil and water conservation problems in the river basin catchment: Assessment for the European Russia and the experience in the pilot region.- Americas Soil and water resources problems in North America: soil erosion, and chemical pollution.- Assessment of the utility of the diffusion model for facilitating adoption of soil and water conservation production systems in North America.- Eight Decades of USDA Soil and Water Conservation Policies and Programs.- Market approaches for addressing soil and water resource problems.- Soil and water conservation policies, programs and practices in Canada: progress and impacts.- Assessment of soil erosion and sedimentation in Canada: Integrated assessments of wind, water and tillage erosion, spanning from hillslopes to watersheds.- Soil and water conservation issues in South America.- Use of conservation agriculture to increase economic returns and reduce degradation of soil and water resources in the Andean Region of South America.- Long-term effects of different agricultural soil use and management systems on soil degradation in Uruguay.- Desertification in Argentine: Causes and Effects on Human Beings.- Oceania Issues and challenges for sustainable management on degraded volcanic soils of the islands of Micronesia.- Issues and challenges for the rehabilitation and sustainable use of soil and water resources on Australian agricultural lands.- Issues and challenges in the rehabilitation and sustainable use of highly disturbed lands associated with mining activities in Australia.- Social and economic approaches in the resolution of soil and water conservation issues in Australia.- Natural resources degradation in New Zealand: Issues, scale and management responses.- Conclusions.