Effect of Land Management on Soil Hydraulic Conductivity in Gidan Kwano, Niger State, Nigeria

Hydraulic conductivity is one of the most important parameters for flow and transport related phenomena in soil and also a criterion for measuring soil ability to transfer water. There is concern arising from the suitability, efficiency and ease of the different measuring methods use under different land management practices. The purpose of this paper is to determine and evaluate soil hydraulic conductivity under different land management practices which include forest land (teak and Melina plantation), grassland and maize cultivated land using the constant head method. The measurement is at different depth of 0 - 15 cm, 15 - 25 cm, 25 - 50 cm, 50 - 75 cm. The limited means of each land use were used to compare the result obtained through statistical means. All tests were carried out using SPSS at a significance level of 0.05. An ANOVA test was conducted to check if each of the land use is significantly different. The soil in forest zone (Teak plantation and Gmalina plantation) had a significantly high bulk density as 1.7533 cm-3 and 1.6967 cm-3 respectively at depth 50 - 75 cm compared to the low bulk density in the grass, maize cultivated land as 1.5000 cm-3 and 1.4833 cm-3 respectively at depth 50 - 75 cm. However, soil hydraulic conductivity was significantly high in the grass site or soil at the surface with 2.8833 cm·h-1. Results obtained from the different land use serve as Knowledge of variability of soil that can assist in defining the best strategies for sustainable soil management through the provision of vital information for estimating soil susceptibility to erosion, hydrological modelling and efficient planning of irrigation projects.

Effect of Pisha sandstone on water infiltration of different soils on the Chinese Loess Plateau

The infiltration of water into soil is one of the most important soil physical properties that affect soil erosion and the eco-environment, especially in the Pisha sandstone area on the Chinese Loess Plateau. We studied the one-dimensional vertical infiltration of water in three experimental soils, created by mixing Pisha sandstone with sandy soil, irrigation-silted soil, and loessial soil, at mass ratios of 1：1, 1：2, 1：3, 1：4, and 1：5. Our objective was to compare water infiltration in the experimental soils and to evaluate the effect of Pisha sandstone on water infiltration. We assessed the effect by measuring soil bulk density（BD）, porosity, cumulative infiltration, infiltration rate and saturated hydraulic conductivity（Ks）. The results showed that Pisha sandstone decreased the infiltration rate and saturated hydraulic conductivity in the three experimental soils. Cumulative infiltration over time was well described by the Philip equation. Sandy soil mixed with the Pisha sandstone at a ratio of 1：3 had the best water-holding capacity. The results provided experimental evidence for the movement of soil water and a technical support for the reconstruction and reclamation of mining soils in the Pisha sandstone area.

Changes of soil quality induced by different vegetation restoration in the collapsing gully erosion areas of southern China

Understanding the influence of collapsing gully management restoration on soil quality and function is essential to the protection of the regional ecological environment in the collapsing gully erosion area.The primary objective of this study was to construct soil quality index(SQI)to assess the influence of different vegetation restoration types on soil quality in collapsing gully restoration.The influence of five vegetation restoration types on soil properties was investigated by using a path analysis,a comprehensive soil quality index(SQI),and a general linear model(GLM).Vegetation restoration was shown to significantly increase the saturated hydraulic conductivity(Ks),mainly due to the effect of the physical parameters of bulk density,soil cohesion,and soil water content.Meanwhile,pH,Ks,soil organic matter(OM),and sand content were revealed as reasonable indicators to evaluate the influence of vegetation restoration on soil quality.Moreover,vegetation restoration was found to significantly improve the soil quality,with the highest SQI value for natural restoration mixed forest(NF),followed by replanted arboreal forest(RA)and replanted scrubland(RS),which were all significantly higher than the SQI value of the erosion area(EA)in the collapsing gully.Additionally,vegetation type explained the most substantial proportion of total variability(46.41%),and restoration time showed a positive correlation with SQI.The results of this study can provide a reference for the restoration and protection of the regional ecological environment in the collapsing gully area.

Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves

No-tillage and soil mulching with pruning residues,applied in olive groves of the semi-arid Mediter-ranean environment,as erosion control practices still practice not fully studied.This study has evaluated the saturated hydraulic conductivity(Ksat),surface runoff(SR)and soil erosion(SL)under rainfall at plot scale throughout two years in four different management practices,total soil cover with a net(SP),mechanical tillage(MT)and mulching by vegetal residues at 3,5·10^(3) and 17,5·10^(3) kg ha^(-1) of dry matter(NTR350 and NTR1750),in an olive grove of Southern Italy.Ksat varied between 1.6(MT)and 25.1(NTR1750)mm/h.A clear reduction in runoff and soil losses was detected for the mulch-based practices when compared to MT,from 20 to 32%in the runoff coefficient and 75-80%in SL,with higher reductions in the NTR1750.This reduction in SL can be mainly explained by the reduction in SR and rain-splash,interrill and rill erosion,due to protection by mulch residues,which increased the vegetal cover and organic matter content of mulched plots.The vegetal cover was on average higher in SP(33%),NTR1750(25%)and NTR350(22%),and lower in MT(12%).The mean organic matter content of soil was 2.01%,1.69%,1.34%and 0.82%for NTR1750,NTR350,SP and MT respectively.Overall,the results quantify the impact of soil mulching with pruning residues at different doses,which will provide guidelines to control and mitigate the hydrological response of clayey and steep soils in Mediterranean olive groves,analysing the associated environmental and economic benefits.