This paper is the result of ecological geological survey engineering.

Objective Soil erosion poses a critical threat to the global terrestrial ecosystem. As an ecological barrier in North China, the water conservation zone of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region confronts increasingly acute soil erosion in its mountainous and hilly areas, primarily driven by the conflict between mining activities and ecological protection. This study takes Pingquan City, located in the mountainous-hilly region of northern Hebei, as the research case. By integrating the RUSLE model with GIS technology and multi-source datasets from 2000 to 2023, it quantitatively analyzes the spatial-temporal evolution of soil erosion and examines differences among its tributaries.

Methods This study employs the RUSLE model and GIS to calculate soil loss and its spatial distribution. By quantifying each erosion factor through multi-source data, the spatial-temporal evolution of soil erosion and differences among tributaries is analyzed.

Results Soil erosion in Pingquan City is dominated by slight and mild degrees, showing a phased pattern of "policy suppression-mining deterioration-planning mitigation" over time. High-intensity erosion is concentrated in the middle reaches of the Pu River mining area, the upper reaches of the Laoha River mining sites, and steep slope areas, which coincide with the high-value areas of slope length and gradient factors; the Qinglong River and Laoniu River basins have stable erosion due to vegetation protection. The differences among basins are dominated by mining activities and vegetation cover, with topography, land use, and rainfall acting together.

Conclusions Pingquan City exhibits a unique soil erosion mechanism characterized as "human engineering activity-dominated", where the driving intensity of mining activities far exceeds that of non-resource-based basins at home and abroad. The coupling of high-intensity erosion with mining hotspots and steep terrain verifies the dual mechanisms of "diminishing marginal benefits of ecological restoration" and "lagging impacts of mining activities". The research findings provide scientific support for coordinating "ecological protection and mining development" in the water conservation area of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region.