Regularity of spatial variability of soil infiltration and its variation sources

The influence of land use types on soil infiltration is one of the hot research topics in soil hydrology. In this research, four typical land use types in the Fengqiu region were chosen to systematically study the intensity, structure and main sources of the spatial variability of soil infiltration under different land use conditions. The result shows that the frequent cultivation can reduce soil heterogeneities, and thus weaken the spatial variability of soil structures. Compared to traditional tillage practices, soil properties exhibit high degree of apparent spatial structure in no-till and honeysuckle fields. The infiltration characteristic in forest soils, which received the least disturbance, varies most and exhibits a smallest range of variability among the four land use types. The soil bulk density, soil organic matter content and initial soil moisture are the major sources of variation for the spatial variability of soil infiltration. The initial soil moisture is the sole source of variation in the honeysuckle field. On the forest soil, the soil organic matter content and initial soil moisture are the major sources of variation. No significant variation sources are found on the no-till field. In some cases, the temperature of water could be an important factor to distort the spatial variability of soil infiltration.