“…Gully erosion aggravates the loss of soil and water, reduces soil quality and grain yield (Xu et al, 2016), even leads to the fragmentation and abandonment of farming, and limits economic development (Frankl et al, 2016). In addition, the development of gullies can increase catchment hydrological connectivity, shorten confluence time, and increase flow peak and runoff (Costa & Bacellar, 2007; Kang, Guo, & Wang, 2021; Poesen, 2018; Poesen et al, 2003), thus increasing off‐site risks such as downstream flood and reservoir sedimentation (Pulley et al, 2018; Vanmaercke et al, 2021). In order to select relevant measures for gully erosion prevention and control, it is very important to identify the key influencing factors and reveal the mechanisms (Frankl et al, 2021; Vanmaercke et al, 2021).…”