A Review on Soil Erodibility Studies in Malaysia

Abstract

Studies on soil erodibility in Malaysia were critically reviewed. Soil erodibility is the only factor of Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), which requires laboratory work and analysis complexity to estimate soil loss. Therefore, the main objective is to review soil erodibility studies to enhance understanding of Malaysia’s soil erosion impacts. These studies were summarized in their application, purpose, value, utilization method/approach, and study location. On the other hand, a summarization of what, why, where, and how the soil erodibility was used was analyzed. Therefore, the importance of soil erodibility as input for environmental management and conservation practices can be addressed. For a large-scale area, the soil erodibility factor will be analyzed as one of the USLE variables in estimating the erosion rate. As for a small-scale area, this factor is an adaption of the ROM Scale, which use to identify the slopes or riverbanks prone to landslides induced by erosion. However, the determination of this factor requires extensive artistry, time, and cost. These would be an obstacle to the holistic assessment of soil erosion impacts since only a little soil sampling will be analyzed. Therefore, the simplified version for the determination of soil erodibility without any requirement of laboratory works will be an extra mile, especially for an area that does not have any information on soil series.

Soil erodibility by simulated rainfall in Latosols

“…Among the various factors that influence the phases of soil breakdown, soil erodibility deserves to be highlighted (Derahman et al, 2022). Erodibility represents the effect of the processes that regulate the infiltration of water into the soil, the disaggregation by the impact of raindrops and the resistance to transport by the surface flow, which are responsible for the behavior of the soil, in relation to erosive processes (Aquino & Oliveira, 2017).…”