Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Horticultural Research Station, Kodaikanal for a period of one year from June. 1991 to study the influence of vegetation on soil erosion, run off and nutrient loss under different vegetational cover. The soil conservation methods of bench terraces and contour stone wall were compared with plantations without any conservation measure. The plantations were apple, eucalyptus and acacia besides plots of seasonal crops of vegetables and geranium. Under each ecosystem, plots with and without natural soil cover were compared. The results revealed that the loss through soil erosion in terms of sediments (1115 kg/ha/yr) and run off water (9.09 lakh l/ha/yr) and also nutrient loss through them were quite high (86-4.7-64.5 NPK kg/ha/yr) in the eucalyptus plantation on cleared ground without any conservation measure. The above losses were found to be low under apple planted on bench terraces with natural grass as soil cover. The contour stone wall was effective in checking the erosion related problems though not to the extent of bench terraces.

Keywords: Soil Erosin, Run-off, Nutrient Loss, Vegetation Conservation