Abstract
Protection of the environment by returning farmland to forest and grassland through enclosing areas of land to permit regeneration of native flora is being implemented in the Loess hill region of China. Soil physical properties are important components of ecological systems, as comparisons between cultivated and enclosed areas demonstrate. The results showed: the soil moisture content in the enclosed area was 14.6% and that in the cultivated area was 14%; the soil bulk density and soil porosity were respectively 1.45 g/cm3 and 45.28% in the enclosed areas, and respectively 1.46 g/cm3 and 44.79% in cultivated land. The alteration of soil physical properties was not big between cultivated areas and enclosed areas in the short term.