Discovering soil erosion characteristics in karst area is significant for studying the processes of rocky desertification. By combing field investigation with experiment and through sample analysis

direct shear test

and simulation scouring test

soil erosion characteristics for different land types in the typical karst area are studied. Results are as follow:Soil thickness on shrub land is greater than forest land and cultivated slope land. Soil compactness degree on cultivated slope land is less than shrub land and on shrub land

less than forest land. By soil slaking rate and scoring modulus

the order of the land types is cultivated slope landshrub landforest land. On the whole

soil erosion characteristic on cultivated slope land has a significant difference and there is no significant difference in soil erosion characteristic between shrub land and forest land. Therefore

protecting and recovering vegetation in karst area and reducing cultivation activities are the main approaches to protect soil and control rocky desertification.