CONTENTS 



Page 



INTRODUCTION 1 



STUDY AREAS 1 



MEASUREMENTS 3 



ANALYSIS 5 



COVER AND SLOPE 6 



SOIL TEXTURE AND ORGANIC 



MATTER CONTENT 7 



CONCLUSIONS 9 



LITERATURE CITED 10 



ABSTRACT 



Measurements were taken of the amount 

 of soil eroded from small plots under the im- 

 pact of a fixed amount of simulated rain. Un- 

 der these conditions, erosion is more closely 

 related to amount of cover than to any other 

 site characteristic. However, the relation be- 

 tween erosion and cover is strongly influenced 

 by slope gradient. Regression analyses indi- 

 cated that erosion is about the same on a 5- 

 percent slope with 40-percent cover as it is on 

 a 35-percent slope with 80-percent cover. Or- 

 ganic matter is the most important soil param- 

 eter affecting erodibility, but the direction 

 and magnitude of its effects depend on soil 

 texture. Organic matter decreases erosion of 

 clay soils, but tends to increase erosion of 

 sandy soils. 



ii 



