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Soil erosion is the most prevalent form of soil degradation both in the world and in Serbia. Degraded forest ecosystems do not provide sufficient soil protection and often large areas are affected by erosion processes. Shear stress plays an important role in assessing soil resistance to erosion processes. The Study area is located in the southwestern part of Belgrade (Serbia), whose areas under the forest are exposed to intense erosion processes. The entire area is affected by gullies and shallow landslides.13 profiles on gullies were selected, where soil resistance was measured with handheld devices, at three points along the profile (left bank, gully, right bank) and at the two depths each. Handheld devices were chosen for field measurements: pocket shear vane (Eijkelkamp model M1.14.10.E) and pocket (hand) static penetrometer (Eijkelkamp model M1.06.03.E).The paper presents mechanical parameters measured with handheld devices with a range of values of soil shear strength τ = 11.58 – 172.42 kN∙m-2 and penetration resistance R = 159.36 – 441.30 kN∙m-2.A statistical dependence was established between the values obtained by shear vane and penetrometer measurements, with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.65 and a determination coefficient of r2 = 0.42.The established differences in the values of soil shear resistance, at the selected measurement points, as well as the established correlation, indicate to the possible application of handheld devices for determining the soil resistance of forest ecosystems to erosion processes.
