Effects of planting studies on soil propertie in erosion control areas

Turkey has a severe erosion problem. There is erosion on 59% of the agricultural area, 54% of the forestland and 64% of the rangeland in Turkey. In the erosion control activities; terracing activities are the most used one to prevent the surface erosion. The facilities such as dry wall, live threshold and wire net are also used to prevent gully erosion. In the terracing activities, the terraces are generally planted by young trees with some gaps among them. Until they get older their canopy only cover and protect small part of soil surfaces. However, in some countries, the uses of grasses and shrubs on the eroded sites have revealed better results to prevent soil losses and runoff compared to the use of only young tree planation technique. In this study, we aim at comparingsome soil properties, erosion rates and carbon stok capasities from the terraces planted by Black pine (Pinusnigra) with and without using covers of Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop) and Dog rose (Rose canina). Results show that using plant cover can reduce leaching of the fine parts within soil Profile and increase water holding capacity, nutrients and organic matter amount, carbon storage capasity and most importantly it reduces erosion susceptibility. In general, the erosion terraces covered by young plants can not protect soil against water and wind erosion until they reach the certain age to cover the soil underneath and around. However, naturally or artifically used plants shelter and fix the soil with their roots, reduce the energy of raindrops with their canopy. Also, vegetation can act as a physical barrier, altering sediment flow at the soil surface and store more carbon in soil.