By intercepting and slowing precipitation hitting the ground, vegetation substantially reduces the volume and rate of stormwater runoff. This helps protect soil from erosion and reduces flash flooding.
How does vegetation affect runoff and erosion?
Vegetation intercepts rain, reducing its energy and preventing splash erosion. It also slows runoff, reduces sheet erosion, and anchors and reinforces the soil with its root system.
The smooth mountain rock surface affects the runoff amount by sliding down the rocks and only absorbing when it can to be absorbed. Bare soil affects the amount of runoff by how it absorbs water in the valley part of the hills. This is also the cause of more puddles and flooding, due tonot having anything to absorb.
What are the factors affecting surface runoff?
At the plot scale, vegetation helps reduce soil loss not only by reducing runoff volume, but also by changing the runoff-sediment yield relationship, resulting that the sediment-reduction rate is higher than the runoff-reduction rate. At the watershed scale, gully erosion and mass wasting process are dominant.
How does vegetation reduce surface runoff?
Vegetation can intercept precipitation and reduce runoff. Leaves and stems can capture rain and prevent it from reaching the ground. It will eventually reach the ground but the process will have been slowed by the vegetation and therefore water will infiltrate into the ground rather than runoff.
Does vegetation such as grasses increase runoff?
Some studies have found that grasses provide better results than shrubs in reducing runoff generation time [21]. This was likely due to the existence of surface vegetation, which increased soil surface roughness, lengthened the runoff path, and increased soil infiltration capacity through the root system [19].
How does vegetation slow prevent sediment loss?
Answer and Explanation: Vegetation has a tremendous influence of preventing sediment loss by holding the soil together and dampening effects of weather.
How does vegetation allow greater infiltration?
Vegetation allows for greater infiltration due to the openings in the soil caused by the roots of the plants. Also the vegetation protects the soil from being compacted and allows for slower delivery of water to the soil. … It can cause the flooding ofdifferent waterways due to rapid flow of water to them.
How does the smooth mountain rock surface type?
How does the smooth mountain rock surface type affect the amount of runoff? Speculate why this happens. There are small fractures on the surface of mountain rocks and they only absorb a small amount of water. So the surface of a smooth mountain rock will have a higher runoff rate.
What would cause an increase in surface runoff?
Urbanization increases surface runoff, by creating more impervious surfaces such as pavement and buildings do not allow percolation of the water down through the soil to the aquifer. It is instead forced directly into streams, where erosion and siltation can be major problems, even when flooding is not.
What is mean by runoff explain the factor affecting runoff?
Topography • Runoff depends on surface smoothness and slope. • If slope is steep, flow will be quick and less evaporation and absorption, resulting greater runoff. • If the catchment is in mountainous area and on the windward side of the mountain, then more rain fall resulting more runoff. 5.
What physical characteristics affect runoff?
Vegetation and soil type influence runoff. Different types of vegetation and soils will limit the amount of precipitation that eventually turns into runoff. Sandy soils absorb more precipitation than soils composed of clay.
How does slope affect runoff?
Slopes, Soils and Runoff In general, the steeper and longer a slope is, the faster water runs off of it, and the greater potential there is for erosion.
How does vegetation reduce soil loss that is caused by water erosion?
Vegetation cover Plants provide protective cover on the land and prevent soil erosion for the following reasons: Plants slow down water as it flows over the land and this allows much of the rain to soak into the ground. Plant roots hold the soil in position and prevent it from being blown or washed away.
How are climate and vegetation related?
Vegetation can affect climate and weather patterns due to the release of water vapor during photosynthesis. The release of vapor into the air alters the surface energy fluxes and leads to potential cloud formation.
How does vegetation type affect flooding?
Forests are known to help reduce flooding. They use more water than other vegetation types, mainly through interception. Forests can also affect floods through their soils holding back and delaying the passage of rainwater to streams and rivers.
How does urbanization affect the amount of surface runoff?
The most important influence on direct runoff change was urban surface change caused by urbanization. Urbanization can cause a large amount of pervious surface to turn into impervious surface, changing the hydrologic cycle and reducing infiltration rates [45,46,47].
How do forests and vegetation help in preventing floods?
Solution: Forests act as a natural absorber of rainwater and allows it to seep because of roots of trees. When rainwater falls on leaves of trees and plants, it does not fall directly on the ground. It drips slowly on the forest ground (does not stagnate) and hence prevents floods.
What will cause an increase in runoff and infiltration in an area?
As the slope of the land increases, runoff increases. As the permeability of the ground increases, runoff decreases. As the degree of saturation increases, runoff increases. As long as precipitation rates exceed infiltration rates, runoff will occur.
What is the meaning of surface runoff?
Surface runoff can be described as water flowing over soil, vegetation or other ground cover instead of infiltrating to the underlying soil. Surface runoff may be caused by imperviousness of the underlying material, or because the underlying material is already being saturated, i.e. at capacity.
What happens to runoff water?
And now when it rains, the water (often called runoff or stormwater) runs off roofs and driveways into the street. Runoff picks up fertilizer, oil, pesticides, dirt, bacteria and other pollutants as it makes its way through storm drains and ditches ” untreated ” to our streams, rivers, lakes and the ocean.
How does vegetation slow and prevent?
How does vegetation help slow erosion? Plant roots hold sediment in place, helping to stabilize the areas where they are planted. By absorbing water, plants reduce erosion caused by runoff. They also break the impact of raindrops or wave-splash, and physically slow and disperse the speed of water flow from storm surge.
How does sediment loss affect land and soil?
Heavy Sediment deposits affect waterways because it can fill in drains, lakes, rivers, and sewage blockage. Sediment loss affects land and soil quality because it can mean a loss in nutrients that the land may need for vegetation. It can also cause flooding, which can carry toxins into water ways.
What is sediment loss?
Sediment loss from water erosion. Modeling sediment loss. Water erosion is the detachment and transport of soil particles by rainfall or irrigation water. When precipi- tation events occur, raindrops break the bond between soil particles and displace them.
How do trees increase infiltration?
Trees are increasingly recognized for their importance in managing runoff. Their leaf canopies help reduce erosion caused by falling rain. They also provide surface area where rain water lands and evaporates. Roots take up water and help create conditions in the soil that promote infiltration.
How does runoff affect the environment?
Stormwater runoff can cause a number of environmental problems: Fast-moving stormwater runoff can erode stream banks, damaging hundreds of miles of aquatic habitat. Stormwater runoff can push excess nutrients from fertilizers, pet waste and other sources into rivers and streams.
How does basin characteristics affect runoff?
Drainage density affects the response of the watershed to rainfall. High densities usually allow fast runoff removal. Therefore, greater peaks and hydrographs with shorter durations are expected for watersheds with higher drainage densities.
What are climatic factors affecting surface runoff explain any one of them in detail?
Meteorological Characteristics Temperature, wind and humidity also affects the runoff. If the temperature is low and the ground is saturated and frozen, it gives rise to greater runoff. However, if the whole of the stream freezes, the peak floods will be reduced.
How does vegetation affect watersheds?
Vegetation found in watersheds can influence channel formation. Trees and fine-stemmed vegetation, such as grasses, influence how water flows, sediment deposition, and channel roughness.
What impact does removing trees or crops have on runoff?
More compaction leads to greater runoff and greater erosion. The effect of removing greater amounts of vegetation also leads to greater erosion rates.
How does topography affect runoff?
Steep slopes have high runoff water velocity. This increases its erosive energy (remember that erosive energy of runoff is a function of runoff velocity and volume). When the slope is longer (length), surface area for water collection also increases and therefore increases the run-off volume.
How does slope and vegetation affect the amount of erosion that occurs?
The minerals and organic content present in the soil moves down toward the slope, due to heavy rainfall. Soil erosion is experienced higher in slope with less vegetation. Shrubs and plants with deep roots can be planted to prevent the top soil from eroding.
How does slope affect erosion?
Erosion moves soil and other particles. … With more force, water can move more rock particles and larger ones. The speed at which water flows downhill is directly affected by the slope, or steepness, of the land. The steeper the slope, the faster the water flows downhill, and the greater its power of erosion.
How does slope affect erosion and deposition?
Water flowing over Earth’s surface or underground causes erosion and deposition. Water flowing over a steeper slope moves faster and causes more erosion. How water transports particles depends on their size. When water slows down, it starts depositing sediment.
How does vegetation affect soil erosion?
Plants and residue cover aid by protecting the soil from the effects of raindrops and splash, slowing down the movement of runoff and allowing any excess surface water to infiltrate the soil. Plants have extensive root systems assist to “grab onto” soil and keep it bound together, reducing displacement.
How does agriculture affect soil erosion?
The agricultural plants that often replace the trees cannot hold onto the soil and many of these plants, such as coffee, cotton, palm oil, soybean and wheat, can actually worsen soil erosion. And as land loses its fertile soil, agricultural producers move on, clear more forest and continue the cycle of soil loss.
Does vegetation increase erosion?
“The loss or removal of slope vegetation can result in either increased rates of erosion or higher frequencies of slope failure. This cause-and-effect relationship can be demonstrated convincingly as a result of many field and laboratory studies reported in the technical literature.” (Gray and Sotir, 1996).
How does vegetation affect agriculture?
Better management of vegetation can benefit farm and forestry productivity, rural communities and the environment and may help reduce the impacts of greenhouse gases. It also provides many ecosystem services such as clean water and flood mitigation.
What affects vegetation?
There are four major factors which influence the nature and growth of vegetation. These are: climate, soils, nature of the surface, and man. Where the factors are favourable, plants grow well, where they are not, plant growth is slowed down.
How does vegetation affect us?
Vegetation provides wildlife habitat and food. Vegetation provides direct (e.g., timber) and indirect (e.g., watershed protection) socioeconomic products and services for humans. Vegetation gives spiritual and cultural experiences to some people.
How does the type of terrain in a watershed affect flooding or erosion?
The height and steepness of the hills, floodplains and channels contribute to the erosive power of the water in a watershed and its stream channels. Steep slopes allow the force of gravity to quickly accelerate the speed of flowing water.
How do forests affect floods?
Forests ‘n flooding Thus anything that increases runoff speed ” like excessive pavement or ditching of farmland ” will contribute to floods. Deforestation plays several roles in the flooding equation because trees prevent sediment runoff and forests hold and use more water than farms or grasslands.
How does slope affect flooding?
If the slope is very flat, the rainfall will not be removed as rapidly. The process of infiltration will have more time to affect the rainfall excess, thereby increasing the abstractions and resulting in a reduction of the total volume of rainfall that appears directly as runoff.
How does urbanization affect runoff and infiltration?
How does urbanization specifically pavement affect the hydrologic cycle? “The increase in impervious or hard surfaces, including rooftops and pavement, decreases the amount of water that soaks into the ground, or infiltrates. This increases the amount of surface runoff.” …
How does urbanization affect groundwater?
With increasing urban- ization, both the quantity and quality of the groundwater are affected by the growth in the population density and the consequent increase in the building density of the ur- ban area, the increased demand for water, and the higher levels of waste discharge.