TY - JOUR

T1 - Soil water repellency and chemical soil properties in a beech forest soil — Spatial variability and interrelations

AU - Krueger, Jiem

AU - Böttcher, Jürgen

AU - Schmunk, Christian

AU - Bachmann, Jörg

N1 - Funding information: The authors like to thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for the financial support within the Research Group “FOR 1806 SUBSOM” ( BA1359/60421268 ). We like to thank Susanne K. Woche for XPS measurements and analyses of XPS spectra.

PY - 2016/6/1

Y1 - 2016/6/1

N2 - Higher solute input due to stemflow infiltration causes enhanced soil acidification near the tree base. Infiltration-driven alteration of chemical soil properties like pH, and carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) and particle surface properties like oxygen to carbon ratio (O/C), may also affect soil wettability with a trend to increased soil water repellency (SWR) with increased acidity. Our study provides a link between chemical soil quality and physical behavior with respect to soil water infiltration and SWR, respectively in a beech forest soil.The spatial variability of soil properties was analyzed within a grid (δ = 1 m, 5 m × 8 m = 40 m 2) and, to reveal direct effects of stemflow influence on soil properties, we sampled along a tree row (δz = 0.8 m, l = 46.60 m) with varying sampling points to tree distances. All samples were taken in a beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest Bws/Bw-horizon in 0.1-0.2 m depth (dystric cambisol).Analysis of spatial variability by standard statistics and geostatistical methods revealed no substantial differences between grid and transect samples for pH and sulfate, Al, and Fe (aluminum and iron oxalic acid extractable) concentration and SWR in terms of contact angle (CA, sessile drop method) measured for bulk soil samples. According to standard statistics, the total variance of chemical soil properties and SWR was independent of stemflow infiltration pattern. Results of spectral variance analysis showed that the spatial variability of acidification (pH, Al content) as well as SWR was strongly affected by the pattern of patches with and without stemflow infiltration or the distribution of beech trees, respectively. In a more or less regularly planted beech forest this caused a cyclic variation of soil acidification and SWR with a strong trend to increased SWR (CA ranges 17°-72°) with increased soil acidity. Specific chemical surface properties, analyzed via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, like O/C ratio (r 2 = 0.782) and the amount of nonpolar C species (r 2 = 0.768) as well as surface Al concentration (r 2 = 0.867) clearly showed a strong relation to CAs. Hence, SWR was strongly affected by stemflow infiltration patterns into soil. For C/N, sulfate, and Fe content no significant relations to SWR or soil acidity were found.

AB - Higher solute input due to stemflow infiltration causes enhanced soil acidification near the tree base. Infiltration-driven alteration of chemical soil properties like pH, and carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) and particle surface properties like oxygen to carbon ratio (O/C), may also affect soil wettability with a trend to increased soil water repellency (SWR) with increased acidity. Our study provides a link between chemical soil quality and physical behavior with respect to soil water infiltration and SWR, respectively in a beech forest soil.The spatial variability of soil properties was analyzed within a grid (δ = 1 m, 5 m × 8 m = 40 m 2) and, to reveal direct effects of stemflow influence on soil properties, we sampled along a tree row (δz = 0.8 m, l = 46.60 m) with varying sampling points to tree distances. All samples were taken in a beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest Bws/Bw-horizon in 0.1-0.2 m depth (dystric cambisol).Analysis of spatial variability by standard statistics and geostatistical methods revealed no substantial differences between grid and transect samples for pH and sulfate, Al, and Fe (aluminum and iron oxalic acid extractable) concentration and SWR in terms of contact angle (CA, sessile drop method) measured for bulk soil samples. According to standard statistics, the total variance of chemical soil properties and SWR was independent of stemflow infiltration pattern. Results of spectral variance analysis showed that the spatial variability of acidification (pH, Al content) as well as SWR was strongly affected by the pattern of patches with and without stemflow infiltration or the distribution of beech trees, respectively. In a more or less regularly planted beech forest this caused a cyclic variation of soil acidification and SWR with a strong trend to increased SWR (CA ranges 17°-72°) with increased soil acidity. Specific chemical surface properties, analyzed via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, like O/C ratio (r 2 = 0.782) and the amount of nonpolar C species (r 2 = 0.768) as well as surface Al concentration (r 2 = 0.867) clearly showed a strong relation to CAs. Hence, SWR was strongly affected by stemflow infiltration patterns into soil. For C/N, sulfate, and Fe content no significant relations to SWR or soil acidity were found.

KW - Element composition

KW - Geostatistics

KW - Soil water repellency

KW - Spectral variance analysis

KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84959019524&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.02.013

DO - 10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.02.013

M3 - Article

VL - 271

SP - 50

EP - 62

JO - GEODERMA

JF - GEODERMA

SN - 0016-7061

ER -