ABSTRACT
Clean-weeding of soils occurs in the tropics, particularly on banana plantations. By reducing light transmission in water, and hence the ability to locate food, aquatic life can be adversely affected by the clean-weeding of roadsides and farms. Along stretches of some coastal roads in Jamaica, for example, clean-weeding occurs at a frequency of up to 12 times per year, often exposing soil to several wet/dry cycles, salt-spray and sheet-wash erosion. The chapter shows that cycles of clean-weeding under humid onshore trade wind conditions can produce potential turbidity in waterways. The most damaging losses due to subaerial exposure are of organic matter, water and clay, the last causing turbidity of natural waters. Moreover, the sequestration of carbon in soils offers a huge potential for climate change mitigation. Turbidity is caused by particles and colored material in water. Water clarity and turbidity are directly related.
