Zhifanggou is a first order tributary of the Xingzi River, which lies in the middle and upper reaches of the Yanhe River in Ansai County, Shaanxi Province. Zhifanggou Watershed (109°13′46″-109°16′03″E and 36°42′42″-36°46′28″N) belongs to No. 2 sub-region of the hilly and gully area in the Loess Plateau (Fig. 1). The watershed area is 8.27 km2 and the elevation is between 1040–1425 m above sea level. The relative altitude difference of the upstream and downstream river bed is 210 m and the mean river slope is 37‰. Most of the height differences between the hill top and valley are 150–200 m. Soil erosion is dominated by water erosion and gravity erosion. Sheet erosion, rills and ephemeral gullies are the main erosion forms on the hilly slopes, and gully erosion and gravity erosion are the main erosion forms on the gully slopes35.Figure 1The relative location of Zhifanggou Watershed and the Yanhe River basin, the Digital Elevation Model of Zhifanggou Watershed (Fig. 1 is generated by ArcGIS 10.2, Yanhe River is a primary tributary of the Yellow River. The Yanhe River boundary and river system are extracted by hydrological analysis tools, Zhifanggou Watershed is overlayed by the DEM map and the hillshade map. ArcGIS website: http://www.esrichina.com.cn/softwareproduct/ArcGIS/).