Abstract:Quantitative assesment and comparison of comprehensive benefit of soil and water conservation in 3 small-scale watersheds varied in erosion management, i.e. Tangbei watershed, Liaogongkeng watershed and Jiaoxi watershed in Xingguo County of Jiangxi Province, were conducted, using an evaluating system of 30 evaluation indexes, including ecological, economic and social benefits. Results show that (1) evaluation using the established evaluating system and the applied method can well reflect the comprehensive benefit of soil and water conservation, and show certain regional applicability; (2) evaluation of a number of watersheds in the same region facilitates disclosing differences between watersheds in the benefit of water and soil conservation and their causes, which is of certain important practical significance in guiding control of soil and water loss in future; and (3) soil and water conservation of the 3 watersheds all yielded remarkable ecological, economical and social benefits, but did vary slightly due to the differences in the input and time of management, showing Tangbei watershed being the highest in ecological, economic, social and comprehensive benefits; Liaogongkeng moderately managed and the lowest in ecological and social benefit; and Jiaoxi watershed, poorly managed and the lowest in economic benefit. It is recommended that the watersheds should focus on their own respective problems in soil and water conservation and adopt pinpointing measures to further improve their soil and water conservation.