ABSTRACT
This chapter describes specific relationships between soil erosion and soil quality. It also describes several factors which determine the nature of these relationships for specific ecosystems. The chapter illustrates these relationships with examples from south-central New Mexico, south-eastern Arizona, and north-eastern Colorado. It provides a brief discussion of the contribution of soil quality to rangeland health. There are at least four specific relationships between soil quality and soil erosion which involve soil resistance or soil resilience. The first is the historical resistance of the soil to past disturbances, which can serve as an indicator of soil quality. Second, the current resistance of the soil to disturbance is related to soil erosion potential. The third relationship is the current resilience of the system following soil erosion. Finally, soil erosion is a driver in the system which determines soil quality. The disturbance regime for an ecosystem can be defined by five attributes: disturbance type or types, spatial scale, intensity, frequency, and predictability.
