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Phosphorus (P) loss from arable sloping land due to water erosion causes off‐site environment pollution in the Three Gorges area in China. This study aims to estimate the effects of agricultural practices on the reduction of P losses during water erosion processes under natural precipitation conditions: contour culturing with organic matter addition (CT + OM), contour culturing with wheat straw mulching (CT + SM), contour culturing with straw mulching and organic matter addition (CT + OM + SM) and conventional downslope culturing framework as a control (CK). Results demonstrated that CT + OM + SM could viably diminish runoff, sediment yields and P losses from arable sloping land. Compared with CK, CT + OM, CT + SM and CT + OM + SM lessened the surface runoff depths by 19%, 34% and 50%, respectively. A high curve number value induced a notable runoff potential from the plot. The surface‐runoff‐related total P (TP) loads for CK with yearly measures of 1·56 kg ha−1 were significantly higher than those for CT + OM, CT + SM and CT + OM + SM at 1·07, 0·77 and 0·51 kg ha−1 (p < 0·05), respectively. With all things considered, the particulate P losses represented a significant division of TP losses, adding up to almost 80% in 2014 and 79% in 2015. The outcomes demonstrated that surface protection and organic matter addition are two of the greatest agricultural protection practices that lessen P losses in the surface runoff from sloping farmland by water erosion. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Vegetative coverage is commonly used to reduce urban slope soil erosion. Laboratory experimental study on soil erosion under grass covered slopes is conventionally time and space consuming. In this study, a new method is suggested to study the influences of vegetation coverage on soil erosion from a sloped loess surface under three slope gradients of 51, 151, and 251; four rye grass coverages of 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75%; and three rainfall intensities of 60, 90, and 120 mm/h with a silt-loamy loess soil. Rye grasses were planted in the field with the studied soil before being transplanted into a laboratory flume. Grass was allowed to resume growth for a period before the rain simulation experiment. Results showed that the grass cover reduced soil erosion by 63.90% to 92.75% and sediment transport rate by 80.59% to 96.17% under different slope gradients and rainfall intensities. The sediment concentration/sediment transport rate from bare slope was significantly higher than from a grass-covered slope. The sediment concentration/transport rate from grass-covered slopes decreased linearly with grass coverage and increased with rainfall intensity. The sediment concentration/transport rate from the bare slope increased as a power function of slope and reached the maximum value at the gradient of about 251, whereas that from grass-covered slope increased linearly and at much lower levels. The results of this study can be used to estimate the effect of vegetation on soil erosion from loess slopes.