LAUSR

Soil erosion from chestnut forests has many types and intensities. However, less attention has been paid to the increasing soil erosion in the chestnut forests of Yanshan Mountains region, North China. The objective of this study was to discuss forest ages (<5, 5∼<10, 10∼<20, and 20∼ yr), slopes (5°∼<15°, 15°∼<25°, 25°∼<35°, and 35°∼), slope positions (upslope, midslope, downslope, and whole slope), and slope aspects (sunny, half-sunny, shade, and half-shade) effects on soil erosion types and intensities in chestnut forests. A field survey was applied to investigate in detail the contiguous chestnut forests near Changfu village of Hebei Province, China on October 9–30, 2016. Results showed that chestnut forests are dominated by moderate erosion in this region, and the soil erosion from chestnut forests tended to deteriorate gradually. The average land degradation index was 0.31. The erosion intensity from chestnut forests will gradually increase with the year of planting. Most of the slopes are greater than 15°, accounting for 86.7% of the total chestnut forests. Most of the chestnut forests occupy the whole slope, accounting for 47.5% of the total area. Moderate erosion occurs most commonly for different slope aspects. In conclusion, improving the preparation efficiency of chestnut forests and enhancing the construction standards of soil and water conservation measures would be useful measures to avoid soil erosion from chestnut forests reaching a more severe level.