The Loess Plateau has long been suffering from serious soil erosion of which erosion from the slope-gully system now is dominant. Slope-gully system is characterized with distinctive erosion distribution zones consisting of inner and inter gully areas wherein erosion patterns spatially vary, acting as both sediment source and the dominant sediment and water transport mechanism. In this paper, a substantial body of research is reviewed concentrating on the soil erosion processes and control practices in the slope-gully system. Inner gully is identified as the main sediment sources while runoff and sediment from the upland inter gully areas is found to significantly affect down slope erosion processes. Corresponding, the protective vegetation pattern and coverage should be strategically designed for different erosion zones with an emphasis on the critical vegetation cover and pattern to reduce sediment yield of the whole slope-gully system. Check-dam could change the base level of erosion and reduce slope length of gully side, which will further decrease the possibility and magnitude of gravity erosion. We concluded that understanding the erosion processes and implementing erosion practices for the slope-gully system are of importance and require more research efforts that probably emphasizing on: 1) the influence of upland runoff on erosion processes at downslope; 2) the relationship between hydraulic characteristics of overland flow and erosion process at slope-gully system scale; 3) physical mechanisms of different vegetation patterns on slope-gully erosion process.

中文翻译：

---

黄土高原坡沟系统水土流失与防治研究进展

黄土高原长期遭受严重的土壤侵蚀，其中坡沟系统的侵蚀现在占主导地位。坡沟系统的特征是由内部和沟壑区组成的独特的侵蚀分布区，其侵蚀模式在空间上是变化的，既是沉积物的来源，又是主要的沉积物和水的输送机制。在本文中，对大量的研究进行了综述，重点研究了坡沟系统中的土壤侵蚀过程和控制方法。内沟被认为是主要的沉积物来源，而高地间沟壑区的径流和沉积物被发现会严重影响下坡侵蚀过程。相应的，应针对不同的侵蚀带，对保护性植被的格局和覆盖范围进行战略性设计，重点是关键的植被覆盖和格局，以减少整个坡沟系统的沉积物产量。止水坝可以改变侵蚀的基础水平，减少沟渠边坡的长度，这将进一步降低重力侵蚀的可能性和程度。我们得出的结论是，了解坡沟系统的侵蚀过程和实施侵蚀实践非常重要，并且需要更多的研究工作，这些研究工作可能着重于：1）山坡径流对下坡侵蚀过程的影响；2）坡沟系统尺度上陆面水力特性与侵蚀过程的关系；