Effects of Vegetation Cover on Runoff and Soil Erosion

Running Head: LAND SURFACE PROCESSES
Land Surface Processes
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Land surface processes 1
Introduction
According to Otil et al (2007), land surface refers to the layer that comprises of the bottom part
of the atmospheric layer, the environment above the soil by a few meters, the continental
biosphere and surface water bodies. Otil et al (2007) states that land surface processes refers to
the processes that lead to the exchanges of mass and energy in that region found between the
atmosphere and land. These exchanges are normally governed by the soil hydrological processes
in the surface and the behavior of the continental biosphere coupled by molecular motions in the
atmosphere. In today’s world, land surface processes have had adverse negative effects on the
entire global climate. This has led to the change in climatic conditions of different places across
the world as seasons are affected which in turn affect the small scale farmers who even do not
realize the cause. Also global warming has rised as a result of these processes and the effects can
be felt all over the world already. This has been caused mainly by industrial pollution, especially
in developed countries. However there are certain mitigation processes that have been put in
place to ensure that the environment is not destroyed and in the cases where it has been
destroyed try and rescue it. Some of the negative outcomes of the land surface processes are
massive and sudden landslides. Thus this literature review will be based on the effects that
different types of vegetation found in different climatic regions has on runoff and soil erosion
The term vegetation in this context refers to the plant species that provide ground cover in a
particular region of the earth. This is so because the earth has different vegetation covers around
the globe and the vegetation is mainly dictated by climate of that place. Surface runoff refers to
the process of water running over the earth surface and is caused mainly by heavy rain pour or

Land surface processes 2
precipitation. It is considered the number one agent of soil erosion. Soil erosion on the other
hand refers to the process that leads to the displacement of earth’s most upper layer of soil and
this is caused mainly by human activities, animals, ice and mostly by water. The processes of
runoff and soil loss cause enormous on-site and offsite negative outcomes that include the
decline of a land’s agricultural production capacity, emergence of flash flooding in areas it was
never experienced, soil degradation and the transfer of soil nutrients, chemicals and also the
pesticides used from one region to other regions. It also causes natural disasters such as
landslides and debris which pose grave dangers to humans and animals alike as buildings and
other structures are prone to collapse. This results in adverse ecological problems and also socio-
economic ones more so in the regions that fall under arid and semi-arid climatic conditions.
(Zhou, 2008).
Around the globe the use of vegetation has proved to be one of the most effective and biological
ways of reducing if not eradicating soil loss completely. The effects that vegetation has on soil
erosion and runoff are usually influenced mainly by the structure and function of the vegetation
present in that particular area. There are various vegetation structures that aid in the controlling
soil erosion and runoff. Hence to effectively make use of vegetation as cover and a controller for
soil loss and runoff, one must know the most effective vegetation cover of a particular place they
want to use vegetation cover on. Below is a breakdown of how different vegetation covers aid in
the controlling and minimizing if not eradicating occurrence of runoff and soil erosion.
Aboveground vegetation cover
This type of vegetation cover is so far considered to be the most effective method of minimizing
the occurrence of soil erosion and runoff. This is because vegetation in this case redistributes