Effect of Soil Properties on Runoff and Soil Erosion in Forest Lands

Globally, soil erosion is one of the most important environmental problems which is threaten soil and water resources. Soil properties are main parameters to affect runoff and soil erosion processes. So, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of some soil properties on runoff and soil erosion in the forest lands located in vicinity of Sari city. Rainfall simulator was set in 15 random points in 2 sites to create experimental rainfall. Runoff and sediment yield resulted from each experiment was measured based on field and laboratory investigations. Soil samples from 0-20 cm depth close to the simulation points were collected and analyzed. The results showed that soil initial moisture, percentage of soil organic matter (% SOM), bulk density and sand percent are most effective factors in runoff generation, respectively. Also, the results illustrated that percentage of soil organic matter, soil initial moisture and silt percent affect on soil erosion, respectively. The results of multiple linear models showed that runoff and soil erosion can be predicted based on percentage of soil organic matter, soil initial moisture and percentage of clay with coefficient of determination of 0.638 and 0.752, respectively.