Soil erosion by water is a serious global ecological issue that leads to land degradation and threatens ecosystem sustainability. Splash erosion resulting from raindrop impact is the first stage of the erosion process and is mainly responsible for the detachment and migration of soil surface aggregates. In humid tropical regions, however, there has been little quantitative analysis of the relations between splash erosion and variable aggregate characteristics such as stability, particle size distribution and organic matter content. The objective of the current study was to determine how rain splash erosion is related to soil aggregate characteristics under land-use change, i.e., the conversion of tropical rainforest (TR) into rubber plantation (RP). Splash cups containing dry-sieved aggregate samples with eight size classes were exposed to natural rainfall to measure the splash erosion rate. The results showed that the initial aggregate organic carbon, water-stable aggregate index (WSA) and mean weight diameter (MWD) decreased by 31%, 9% and 48%, respectively, after 32 years of rubber cultivation. These degenerations in aggregate properties increased the susceptibility of soil aggregates to erosion and mutually contributed to a higher average splash erosion rate in RP (1.20 kg m⁻²) than in TR (1.09 kg m⁻²), regardless of aggregate size fractions. Splash erosion rates for all aggregate sizes were significantly positively correlated with rainfall kinetic energy, rainfall amount and intensity during the study period. The average splash erosion rate of aggregates first increased and then decreased with a decline in aggregate size in both TR and RP. The minimum and maximum splash rates were observed within 10–8 mm and 0.5–0.25 mm size fractions, respectively. In particular, the proportion of small-sized aggregates (i.e., 1–0.15 mm) with a relatively high splash erosion rate increased remarkably after land-use change. This exerted a negative impact on splash erosion control as well as on the sustainable development of rubber cultivation. Increasing the additional input of organic materials (e.g., intercropping cash crops with rubber trees) may help to enhance large aggregate formation and stabilization, which could minimize the risk of splash erosion at the aggregate scale for eroded rubber plantation ecosystems.

水土流失是一个严重的全球生态问题，会导致土地退化并威胁生态系统的可持续性。雨滴撞击造成的飞溅侵蚀是侵蚀过程的第一阶段，主要负责土壤表层团聚体的脱离和迁移。然而，在潮湿的热带地区，很少有关于飞溅侵蚀与可变聚集体特性（如稳定性、粒度分布和有机物含量）之间关系的定量分析。本研究的目的是确定在土地利用变化（即热带雨林（TR）转变为橡胶园（RP）的情况下，雨溅侵蚀与土壤团聚体特征之间的关系）。将含有八种尺寸等级的干筛骨料样品的飞溅杯暴露在自然降雨中以测量飞溅侵蚀率。结果表明，经过32年的橡胶种植，初始骨料有机碳、水稳骨料指数（WSA）和平均重量直径（MWD）分别下降了31%、9%和48%。这些聚集体特性的退化增加了土壤聚集体对侵蚀的敏感性，并相互促进了 RP 中更高的平均飞溅侵蚀率（1.20 kg m^-2 ) 比 TR (1.09 kg m ^-2)，无论聚合大小分数如何。在研究期间，所有大小的骨料的飞溅侵蚀率与降雨动能、降雨量和强度呈显着正相关。集料的平均飞溅侵蚀速率在 TR 和 RP 中随着集料尺寸的减小先增加后减小。分别在 10-8 mm 和 0.5-0.25 mm 尺寸范围内观察到最小和最大飞溅率。特别是在土地利用变化后，飞溅侵蚀速率相对较高的小骨料（即1~0.15 mm）的比例显着增加。这对控制飞溅侵蚀以及橡胶种植的可持续发展产生了负面影响。增加有机材料的额外投入（例如，