ABSTRACT
This chapter describes linkages between geomorphological processes, soil structure and organisms. Interactions between geomorphology and ecology can be approached at various spatial or temporal scales. The chapter focuses on the effects of these interactions on soil structure and on the subsequent movement of water and soil particles through and over the soil. An understanding of the importance of soil structure in determining the pathways of water movement over and through the soil depends on some familiarity with aspects of soil aggregation related to infiltration and erodibility. The dynamic nature of water-stable soil aggregation is important. The proportion of water-stable aggregates in a soil is continually changing since organic materials binding soil particles are continually being synthesised and decomposed. The term soil erodibility is used to refer to the resistance a soil has to erosion, expressed by the actual amount of erosion which occurs.
