Interrelationship among slope steepness,tillage practice and rainfall properties with surface runoff and soil loss on Mollisols in Northeast China

ABSTRACT

Soil erosion and rainfall-induced runoff are well studied yet remain somewhat unpredictable from one natural rainfall to the next, due to interactions between erosion parameters. This study quantified the relationship between annual (2011–2016) and individual (2016) rain events with overland flow (runoff) and soil loss in China’s northern ‘corn-belt’. Two tillage practices and slopes were evaluated (no-till and conventional till, 5° and 7° slopes). Results showed 54 rainfall events for a total of 394 mm precipitation ranging between May and October 2016. Runoff occurred 13 times in the conventional till with 7° slope, accounting for 25.9% of the precipitation volume and caused 15.6 t ha^?1 erosion. It occurred twice in the no-till with 5° slope plot and caused 0.2 t ha^?1 erosion., Thus the no-till with 5° slope treatment is the best tillage system to protect soil in Mollisols in Northeast China. Broad analysis coupled with a detail review of three rainfall events demonstrates that water either runs off plots quickly or rapidly infiltrates while sediment moves in a pulsing manner.