In Northeast China’s black soil region, farmland shelterbelts play a critical role in controlling erosion. However, with the escalating threat of water erosion and associated cropland degradation, their effectiveness in mitigating water erosion at the regional scale remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study selected Baiquan County, where a relatively complete farmland shelterbelt network has been established under the Three-North Protective Forest Program, to quantitatively evaluate the protective effects of farmland shelterbelts against water erosion. A regional-scale protection level model was constructed for 2022, and both slope erosion and gully erosion intensities were quantified using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation model and remote sensing visual interpretation. The relationships between the protective level of farmland shelterbelts and erosion intensity were then analyzed to reveal their regulatory role in mitigating soil and water loss. The results show that the average protective level of farmland shelterbelts in the study area was 27.66%, indicating limited overall protection. Shelterbelts significantly reduced both slope soil erosion and gully density. In areas with high (0–2°), moderate (2–5°), and low (5–15°) slopes, the soil erosion modulus decreased by 8.59%, 29.27%, and 13.95%, while gully density decreased by 13.34%, 28.04%, and 17.45%, respectively. Across high (457–481 mm), moderate (481–507 mm), and low (507–544 mm) precipitation areas, the soil erosion modulus decreased by 21.67%, 26.96%, and 19.13%, and gully density by 10.15%, 31.58%, and 11.65%, respectively. These results provide a theoretical basis for optimizing farmland shelterbelts planning and management in black soil regions vulnerable to water erosion.
Zhu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.