Modified vegetation-erosion dynamics model and its application in typical watersheds in the Loess Plateau

The vegetation-erosion model was applied in three typical watersheds of hilly and gully area in the Loess Plateau in northwestern China to study the dynamic relations between vegetation coverage and soil erosion rate and various stresses. The model was improved by introducing rainfall and runoff factors. Then the modified model was applied in the Luergou and Luoyugou watersheds. The calculation results with the modified model were compared with the results of the original model. The precisions of simulated vegetation coverage and soil erosion rate with the modified model were greatly improved compared with the original model. Soil erosion rate reduced with increasing vegetation coverage and the human disturbance caused high soil erosion.