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Loess soils are found on some of the most productive and widespread agricultural lands around the world,but the sustainability of these areas are increasingly threatened by soil erosion.The Loess Plateau-the largest and most severely eroded loess region in the world-was the cradle of Chinese civilization where agriculture has lasted for nearly 7500 years.Based on more than 20-yr datasets,our study indicates that the asynchrony of dominant agricultural practice with the local ecological rhythm is a primary driver for large-scale soil erosion and landscape modifications in this region.The long summer fallow period concurrent with the heavy-rainstorm season greatly accelerated soil erosion and undermined the sustainability of the region.Our finding challenges the conventional belief that traditional land use practices that have lasted for thousands of years in countries like China tend to be ecologically sustainable.To contain soil erosion and achieve sustainability on the Loess Plateau,therefore,it is necessary to fundamentally change the traditional agricultural regime based upon the ecological rhythm,and promote multifunctional landscape planning that simultaneously facilitates environmental,economic,and social processes in the region.