Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations - Kootenay Local Agricultural Society

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Dirt the erosion of civilizations David R. Montgomery university of california press berkeley los angeles london
Also by David R. Montgomery King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2007 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Montgomery, David R., 1961–. Dirt : the erosion of civilizations / David R. Montgomery. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978–0-520–24870–0 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0–520–24870–8 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Soil science—History. 2. Soils. 3. Soil erosion. I. Title. s590.7.m66 2007 631.4′9—dc22 2006026602 Manufactured in the United States of America 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper).
Page 2 and 3: Dirt
Page 6: For Xena T. Dog, enthusiastic field
Page 10: acknowledgments This book could nev
Page 13 and 14: 2 Yet what is dirt? We try to keep
Page 15 and 16: 4 discovered ways to enhance soil f
Page 17 and 18: 6 quent centuries, nutrient depleti
Page 20 and 21: two Skin of the Earth We know more
Page 22 and 23: villa in Gloucestershire lay undete
Page 24 and 25: When we behold a wide, turf-covered
Page 26 and 27: Soil not only helps shape the land,
Page 28 and 29: ter and mineral soil. Billions of m
Page 30 and 31: Topography also affects the soil. T
Page 32 and 33: Wind can pick up and erode dry soil
Page 34 and 35: Combinations of soil horizons, thei
Page 36: much. This leaves the issue in a po
Page 39 and 40: 28 Ice Age was not a single event.
Page 41 and 42: 30 For much of the last century, th
Page 43 and 44: 32 Abu Hureyra sat on a low promont
Page 45 and 46: 34 wheat dating from 10,000 years a
Page 47 and 48: 36 Domesticated livestock not only
Page 49 and 50: 38 inated the southern Mesopotamian
Page 51 and 52: 40 of a high load of dissolved salt
Page 53 and 54: 42 direct water to particular place
Page 55 and 56:
44 by the color of dirt eroded from
Page 57 and 58:
46 out the region, he concluded tha
Page 60 and 61:
four Graveyard of Empires To Protec
Page 62 and 63:
the constitution, proposed a ban on
Page 64 and 65:
Figure 7. Parthenon. Albumen print
Page 66 and 67:
est soils from hillsides disturbed
Page 68 and 69:
Figure 8. Map of Roman Italy. follo
Page 70 and 71:
the Roman heartland became increasi
Page 72 and 73:
ically let a piece of ground lie fa
Page 74 and 75:
foot thick, it probably took at lea
Page 76 and 77:
into densely planted olive farms—
Page 78 and 79:
families a few centuries earlier. T
Page 80 and 81:
classic, supporting three editions
Page 82 and 83:
on the edge of the Arabian Desert a
Page 84 and 85:
When Moses and company arrived, Can
Page 86 and 87:
urned before the onset of the rains
Page 88 and 89:
sion in the Mayan of the Petén not
Page 90 and 91:
Archaeological records from this pe
Page 92:
The contrast between how the Pueblo
Page 95 and 96:
84 forest soils as it went, agricul
Page 97 and 98:
86 to a thousand years. Soil profil
Page 99 and 100:
88 land and birch forest. Following
Page 101 and 102:
90 Figure 10. Miniature from an ear
Page 103 and 104:
92 the early 1300s to about two mil
Page 105 and 106:
94 the Danes improved their sandy d
Page 107 and 108:
96 layers, ’till we arrive to the
Page 109 and 110:
98 recipe for degrading soil fertil
Page 111 and 112:
100 vived on vegetables, gruel, and
Page 113 and 114:
102 French Alps lost a third to mor
Page 115 and 116:
104 Despite such profiteering, by 1
Page 117 and 118:
106 from the smallest rill to the g
Page 119 and 120:
108 A potato blight that arrived fr
Page 121 and 122:
110 uries such as sugar, coffee, an
Page 123 and 124:
112 Subsequent foreign investment o
Page 126 and 127:
six Westward Hoe Since the achievem
Page 128 and 129:
A few miles in from the forest edge
Page 130 and 131:
wherein one man by his owne labour
Page 132 and 133:
Particularly in the South, the read
Page 134 and 135:
worn out, and washed and gullied, s
Page 136 and 137:
explained that American farmers had
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marle County Agricultural Society i
Page 140 and 141:
purchased a farm in the 1820s. A de
Page 142 and 143:
Figure 14. Charles Lyell’s illust
Page 144 and 145:
Traveling through much of the South
Page 146 and 147:
Tensions came to a head after the S
Page 148 and 149:
But this still doesn’t explain th
Page 150 and 151:
Figure 16. North Carolina gully sys
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more than three thousand years and
Page 154 and 155:
settlements for several thousand ye
Page 156 and 157:
seven Dust Blow One man cannot stop
Page 158 and 159:
land-hungry settlers. From 1878 to
Page 160 and 161:
without the least reference to the
Page 162 and 163:
Figure 18. Breaking new land with d
Page 164 and 165:
Figure 19. Dust storm approaching S
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taxes, and other unavoidable expens
Page 168 and 169:
Figure 21. Plowing a steep hillside
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tion of heavy machinery and agroche
Page 172 and 173:
Soil erosion rapidly became a major
Page 174 and 175:
egion. There are few reliable measu
Page 176 and 177:
ing with the Germans, Kalmyks were
Page 178 and 179:
grazing animals doubled; the human
Page 180 and 181:
years. Present rates of erosion, ho
Page 182 and 183:
land was being exhausted. Although
Page 184 and 185:
In 1958 the Department of Agricultu
Page 186 and 187:
eplacing water-holding capacity los
Page 188:
ing on access to fresh land or find
Page 191 and 192:
180 our way in that the backyard wo
Page 193 and 194:
182 Figure 23. Chinese farmers plow
Page 195 and 196:
184 less, he experimented with agri
Page 197 and 198:
186 Figure 24. Lithograph of mounta
Page 199 and 200:
188 fiscated the remaining lands th
Page 201 and 202:
190 Hilgard rightly dismissed the p
Page 203 and 204:
192 important was the mix of silt,
Page 205 and 206:
194 ping would exhaust the natural
Page 207 and 208:
196 atmospheric nitrogen. On July 2
Page 209 and 210:
198 increases in crop production.
Page 211 and 212:
200 Estimates for when petroleum pr
Page 213 and 214:
202 ground—turning our dirt into
Page 215 and 216:
204 greater tonnage of machinery pe
Page 217 and 218:
206 may prove our best hope for mai
Page 219 and 220:
208 tilizers, hosts the longest ong
Page 221 and 222:
210 soil fertility and exporting po
Page 223 and 224:
212 No-till farming is very effecti
Page 225 and 226:
214 It is no secret that if agricul
Page 227 and 228:
216 some consumed their future and
Page 229 and 230:
218 Pollen preserved in lake sedime
Page 231 and 232:
220 washed off the slopes now bury
Page 233 and 234:
222 ply. So topsoil loss retarded f
Page 235 and 236:
224 different fates. Tikopia develo
Page 237 and 238:
226 where vegetation stabilizes the
Page 239 and 240:
228 0 50 100 km inhabitants. Two ce
Page 241 and 242:
230 pushes peasants from hillside s
Page 243 and 244:
232 gardens grew up throughout the
Page 245 and 246:
234 Credible scientists also disagr
Page 247 and 248:
236 notice the problem. Like a dise
Page 249 and 250:
238 asters. Larger societies, with
Page 251 and 252:
240 before plants have all they can
Page 253 and 254:
242 faster than it is replaced dest
Page 255 and 256:
244 figuring the downstream end of
Page 257 and 258:
246 Meeting this challenge would al
Page 259 and 260:
248 10. Marsh 1864, 9, 42. 11. Lowd
Page 261 and 262:
250 6. USDA 1901, 31. 7. Whitney 19
Page 263 and 264:
252 Schwartzman, D. W., and T. Volk
Page 265 and 266:
254 Beach, T., S. Luzzadder-Beach,
Page 267 and 268:
256 and human response. In Environm
Page 269 and 270:
258 Lang, A. 2003. Phases of soil e
Page 271 and 272:
260 Cronon, W. 1983. Changes in the
Page 273 and 274:
262 Bennett, H. H., and W. R. Chapl
Page 275 and 276:
264 Saiko, T. A. 1995. Implications
Page 277 and 278:
266 Jackson, W. 2002. Farming in na
Page 279 and 280:
268 ———. 1925. Soil and Civil
Page 281 and 282:
270 and economic costs of soil eros
Page 283 and 284:
272 agricultural practices (continu
Page 285 and 286:
274 Columella, Lucius Junius Modera
Page 287 and 288:
276 farm subsidy programs: conventi
Page 289 and 290:
278 Joppa Town, Maryland, 140 Judso
Page 291 and 292:
280 nitrogen fertilization (continu
Page 293 and 294:
282 Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret),
Page 295 and 296:
284 technological innovation (conti
Page 297:
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