Effects of soil erosion on soil quality in rocky mountain areas of northern China

Yimeng mountain area is the typical rocky mountain areas of Northern China. The local soil with loose texture and easy to lose was developed from the gneiss and sandstone. A small watershed in Yimeng mountain area of Shandong Province was chose to make a preliminary estimate about soil erosion rates of natural soils and cultivated soils on sloping land using the 137CS tracer method and soil erosion model of Yang. Then, the author discussed the influence about soil erosion on soil quality. Results indicated that soil erosion is very severe among the whole study watershed. In those areas with greater soil erosion, soil phosphorus content doesn´t has a notable change, while soil organic matter and total nitrogen content are low relatively. So the soil quality is poor in general. There is a positive meaning of the study about land resources´ reasonable development and utilization and environment protection in the rocky mountain areas of Northern China.