• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.181-192
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• 2010

Water erosion is progressing in the Loess Plateau, especially in gullies, and the sediment runoff to the Yellow River amounts to 975 million tons every year. Natural factors for water erosion include climate, soil, geological feature, terrain and vegetation. Many development projects due to the increasing population reduced the forest coverage ratio to 10%, and 200 million people in the downstream area are suffering from the damage during intense rainfall. Accordingly, the Chinese government is continuously trying to efficiently prevent the erosion by establishing measures for water erosion, including fish-scale pits, terrace technique, and check dams.