Hydraulic conductivity of forest floor soil layer

Year, pages: 2017, 112 - 119

The paper deals with the influence of organic litter material on hydraulic conductivity of the top surface layer of the forest soils. The hydraulic conductivity is one of the most important characteristics of the soil used in mathematical description of hydraulic processes within soil. The organic matter in forest floor horizons is formed by dead plant litter material at different stages of decomposition and aggregation and significantly influences initiation processes of infiltration and runoff generation. The forest floor horizons usually have extremely high porosity, very low bulk density, peculiar texture and structure determined by the level of mechanical and biochemical decomposition. This paper contains results of field and laboratory measurements of the hydraulic conductivity of organic horizons estimated by Guelph permeameter, tension disk permeameter, single-ring method and the method of variable hydraulic gradient (falling head). The results point to the ambiguousness of interpretations of commonly used methods of hydraulic conductivity assessment without consideration of local soil-vegetation conditions.

Zvala, A., Orfánus, T., Stojkovová, D., Nagy, V. 2017. Hydraulic conductivity of forest floor soil layer. In Acta Hydrologica Slovaca, vol. 18, no.1, pp. 112-119. 2644-4690.

Zvala, A., Orfánus, T., Stojkovová, D., Nagy, V. (2017). Hydraulic conductivity of forest floor soil layer. Acta Hydrologica Slovaca, 18(1), 112-119. 2644-4690.