[Objective] To explore the classification

distribution and influencing factors of gullies in Hengduan Mountainous area

in order to provide a basis for the study of influences of gully erosion on soil erosion and land degradation processes in this area.[Methods] The high-resolution images available on Google Earth combined with GIS software were applied to investigate the gully density in Hengduan mountainous area according to the visibility principle. Totally

2 242 quadrats with the same size of 1 km×1 km were set randomly in the region.[Results] The gullies were observed in 571 quadrats

which accounted for 25.5% of the total quadrats

and the average density was 2.20 km/km2. Gully erosion was intensive at the low mountain regions(elevation<1 500 m)

and the gully density increased with the increasing slope gradient. The relationship between gully density and annual precipitation was quite weak. Grassland was the main land use type for gully development

and gully erosion in the dry red soil region was more intensive than other soil species. According to the domestic and international gully classification systems

the gullies observed in this study were mainly classified as permanent gully (including gullies with debris flow events).[Conclusion] The permanent gullies were widely distributed and intensively developed in Hengduan Mountainous area

which were clearly influenced by elevation

slope

land use and soil species.