Relationships Between Permeability and Erodibility of Cultivated Acrisols and Cambisols in Subtropical China1

ABSTRACTThe relationships between soil erodibility factor (K) and soil saturated permeability (Kfs) for cultivated Acrisols derived from Quaternary red clay and Cambisols derived from red sandstone were studied and quantified using a rainfall simulator and Guelph permeameter in a hilly area of subtropical China. A negative correlation existed between Kfs of the topsoil (0–5 cm) and K. The empirical expression K ≈ a × K−bfs + c, where a, b and c are the structural coefficients related to soil properties, such as soil type, soil parent material, organic matter, pH and mechanical composition, best described the relationship between soil saturated permeability and soil erodibility.