The soil structural feature was better under natural forests than that of plantation based on the analysis of soil structure in typical profiles under natural forests and plantation in upper reaches of the Yangtze River.The soil structural quality under plantation was much low than that of the natural forests after the assessment of structural quality by twelve indexes.Furthermore

the water conservation-antierodibility of the former was also low than the latter's based on the analysis and calculation of the soil water holding capacity and erosion rates under natural forests and plantation.The distributing area of plantation in upper reaches of Yangtze River are very big and facing many problems

which may relate to the soil structural quality under plantation

so the study on the protection and directive culture of the soil structural quality should be proposed.