Abstract

Rainfall in Taiwan mainly concentrates in the period of typhoons and torrential storms. In this period the soil severely erodes due to the frail geology, steep gradient and easily weathered parent rock. Currently, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is used to estimate soil erosion amount in Taiwan. Although it is regarded as the reference, its results are often inconsistent with the actual situation because the application conditions show great difference. Therefore, an alternative to the USLE is necessary for Taiwan. This study focused on 25 main basins in the mountainous area of Taiwan from which 69 experimental sites were established; 20 in the north, 11 in the center, 21 in the south and 17 in the east. The agency of Soil and Water Conservation Technical Specifications table, soil test in the experimental site and on-site measurements of erosion and redeposition were used to determine soil erodibility index (Km). The results shows that most Km obtained in the north areas were smaller than those from the specification, while Km in the rest of the areas varies without a regular pattern. It was concluded that the Southern areas were more susceptible to soil erosion because of the larger indexes.

Keywords:

Soil erosion, soil Erodibility index, Taiwan mountainous area, universal soil loss equation,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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The authors have no competing interests.