Effects of land use on soil moisture in loess hilly and gully region of China

In arid and semiarid region, soil moisture is one of the key factors influencing plant growth. In this paper, the soil moisture in different land use types were investigated by auger in a small watershed in hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau, China. The results showed that soil moisture in croplands was the highest, which was due to gentle slopes，terrace building and lower crop water requirements. The soil moisture in forestlands, shrub lands and grasslands were lower and had no significant difference between any two of them. The stepwise regression analysis showed that soil moistures was mainly influenced by slope gradient and soil stable infiltration rate. Furthermore, the soil moisture in grassland was also influenced by slope aspect and aboveground biomass. In conclusion, croplands can be built on gentle slopes (＜10°). In steep gradient, the vegetation building should emphasize the natural community conservation. The artificial vegetation including forest and bush can be built in small topographies with higher soil moisture such as the bottom of gully.