摘要：In order to study quantitative indexes and characteristics of soil erosion on the Loess Plateau, degree of complexity and stability of erosion patterns are discussed. The fractal characteristics of soil erosion spatial patterns in the Dalihe River basin were evaluated by combining them with measurements extracted from the soil erosion database of the Loess Plateau, illustrated using GIS. Results demonstrate that fractal characteristics of spatial patterns of soil erosion intensity are obvious in the Dalihe River basin. Indeed, the results show that fractal dimension reflects the degree of soil erosion complexity at certain scales of observation, is indirectly related to soil erosion degree of complexity at certain scales of observation, which indirectly corresponds to the level of difficulty to implement soil-water erosion management. In addition, the fractal characteristics of soil erosion spatial patterns in the Dalihe River basin show that patch shapes correspond with size. In other words, when the patch size is about 0.2 km2, scale conversion is observed in spatial patterns of soil erosion intensity and complexity of patch shape also changes. However, at patch sizes greater than 0.2 km2, the two dimensional feature was gradually enhanced for a single patch, while with the patch size less than 0.2 km2, the point feature was gradually enhanced. Thus, the order of complexity in spatial patterns of soil erosion intensities in the Dalihe River basin is drastic erosion > extreme erosion > serious erosion > moderate erosion, and thus the order of priorities for the implementation of management controls on soil erosion should be moderate erosion > serious erosion > extreme erosion > drastic erosion.
