ABSTRACT Monitoring water erosion and the factors that control soil and water loss are essential for soil conservation planning. The objective of this study was to evaluate soil and water losses by water erosion under natural rainfall in eucalyptus plantations established in 2001 (EF2), and 2004 (EF1), native forest (NF) and bare soil (BS), during the period of 2007 to 2012; and to determine the USLE factors: rain erosivity (R), erodibility (K) of a Red Argisol and the cover-management factor (C) for EF1, EF2 and NF at a pilot sub-basin, in Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil. The R factor was estimated by the EI30 index, using rainfall data from a gauging station located at the sub-basin. The soil and water losses were monitored in erosion plots, providing... |