Abstract
Betel nut is a familiar crop in the middle and southern parts of Taiwan’s slopeland. Since the population to chew the betel nut was extended, the consumption and profits were increased. Therefore more slopeland was used to plant areca and would get high quality betel nut. Areca plantations bring the society and natural environment very complicated impacts. There was extensive by different cognition of the soil and water conservation, between proprietor and scholar, recognized about planting areca on slopeland. A number of disasters had taken place on slopeland in recent years. It is unknow whether all the disasters were created by betel nut plantation. As no explicit evidence could be confirmed, it’s important to understand the hydrological characteristics of betel nut plantation on slopeland. Experimental watershed was located in Shan-Ann village, Shuli county, Nan-Tao Hsien, Taiwan (elevation=890m; latitude=2625´N; longitude=12281´E). The precipitation and runoff were observed by raingauge and H type channel from June 1997 to July 1998. The primary result showed that the runoff coefficient was about 0.53 to 0.76, and mean value was 0.64.
