Spatial and temporal variations in erodibility of loess soil

A 3-year field experiment was conducted on a small agricultural watershed of one of the largest loessial belt of southeast Poland to characterize variations in soil erodibility. Results showed that soil properties of the plow layer were highly variable within short distances and the localization of soil erosion classes can not be identified with the actual landscape position. Soil losses registered on very severely eroded and colluvial soil were twice bigger than soil losses on slightly and moderately eroded soil. The soil erodibility(K) values calculated on the year basis and with the threshold value of 12.3 mm were 6-10 times smaller than values derived from the USLE nomograph for the studied soils. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.