Volume-based soil particle fractal relation with soil erodibility in a small watershed of purple soil

The particle size distribution in small watershed changes under different land uses and affects soil erodibility. The aims of this study were (1) to investigate the volume fractal dimension of particle size distribution under different land uses in a typical small watershed of purple soil, (2) to estimate soil erodibilities of various land uses utilizing the Erosion-Productivity Impact Calculator (EPIC) model and the nomogram (NOMO) model, and (3) to relate volume fractal dimension with the soil erodibility used in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) in purple soil areas. Laser diffractions and double-logarithmic model were used to measure and calculate volume fractal dimension values. The results show that soil volume fractal dimensions were well linearly fitted to the double-logarithmic model with high correlation coefficients of 0.902–0.936 under six land uses in the small watershed. The averaged volume fractal dimension values under different land uses, from high to low were in the order of Zea mays L, Ipomoea batatas, Citrus reticulata Blanco, Setaria viridis, Robinia pseudoacacia L, Pinus massoniana Lamb. The volume fractal dimension was positively correlated to clay particle fraction (R = 0.933). The average soil erodibility values under different land uses from high to low were in the order of Setaria viridis, Citrus reticulata Blanco, Pinus massoniana Lamb, Zea mays L, Ipomoea batatas, Robinia pseudoacacia L while average soil erodibilities from high to low values were in the order of Setaria viridis, Citrus reticulata Blanco, Zea mays L, Ipomoea batatas, Pinus massoniana Lamb, Robinia pseudoacacia L. The soil erodibilities calculated by the two models were similar, and positively correlated (R = 0.630–0.877). The volume fractal dimension values of six land uses were negatively correlated to both soil erodibility estimated by EPIC and by NOMO models. Moreover, the correlations of the volume fractal dimension values of Zea mays L, Ipomoea batatas and Citrus reticulata Blanco estimated by EPIC or NOMO were lower than those of Pinus massoniana Lamb, Robinia pseudoacacia L and Setaria viridis. Further research is needed to determine the influence of volume fractal dimension on the soil erodibility under different land use and managements.