Estimating the cover-management factor (C) in the universal soil loss equation for forest conditions

ABSTRACT: A new procedure for estimating the cover-management factor (C) in the universal soil loss equation (USLE) for forest conditions is based on an evaluation of nine subfactors: (1) amount of bare soil, (2) canopy, (3) soil reconsolidation, (4) high organic content, (5) fine roots, (6) residual binding effect, (7) on-site storage, (8) steps, and (9) contour tillage. The procedure, validated with data from 39 research watersheds in the Southeast, provided reasonably good estimates of erosion. Use of C values obtained with this procedure are preferable to use of those from tables 11 and 12 in Agricultural Handbook 537.