Abstract: Based on the 1976-2005 daily rainfall records from 25 weather stations in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area and its surrounding regions, this paper studied the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of rainfall erosivity in the Area, with the focus on the annual and inter-annual trends of the rainfall erosivity around seven main weather stations. In 1976-2005, the average annual rainfall erosivity (R) in the Area was from 4389.0 to 8021.0 MJ·mm·hm^-2·h^-1·a^-1, being increased first from the northeast to the southwest, reached the peak in the central, and then decreased. The annual rainfall erosivity around the seven main weather stations mostly concentrated in the period from April to October, with the R value increased first from April, reached the highest in June or July, and then decreased. The maximum rainfall erosivity in consecutive three months around each of the seven weather stations accounted for 54.2%-60.7% of the total annual rainfall erosivity. In the study period, the coefficients of variation of the annual rainfall erosivity around the seven main weather stations varied moderately from 0.278 to 0.387, and the tendency rate ranged from -431.1 to 263.5 MJ·mm·hm^-2·h^-1·(10 a)^-1.However, the coefficients of tendency did not pass the confidence test with 5% level of significance, and the changes of annual rainfall erosivity showed random fluctuation. The variation degree of monthly rainfall erosivity was larger than the variation of annual rainfall erosivity, but only showed an obvious climate trend in a few months around parts of the weather stations.

Key words: rainfall erosivity, daily rainfall, spatiotemporal distribution, soil erosion, Three Gorges Reservoir Area, trellis-cultivated melon, P fertilizer efficiency, P uptake, dry matter accumulation.