BDV 3007 Soil Science

Instructor: Amirah Alias, PhD

Semester: Sem 1 2021/2022
Time: Monday 9am
Date: 1 Nov 2021 (Week 4)
Annoucements

• No class on this Thursday to observe Diwali/Deepavali.

Happy holidays!
• Assignment #1 is due on Thursday, 4 Nov 2021 before
5pm
• Last week to Add/Drop course – talk to your mentor
Topic 3: Soil water content (contd)

Soil permeability vs infiltration

• Permeability: the rate at which water moves down
through the soil (inches/hour)
• Infiltration: the rate at which water enters the soil
• Same as permeability, except that it also takes into
account surface conditions such as soil crusting
Topic 3: Soil permeability

• The permeability of a soil can be no faster than the

permeability of the slowest layer.
• For example, soil A that has a sandy loam surface
over a sandy clay loam subsoil will have a
permeability of?
Soil A
water
Sandy loam Sandy clay loam

2.0 to 6.0 inches/hour 0.2 to 0.6 inches/hour

?
Topic 3: Soil permeability and infiltration
• Soil texture is usually the dominant property affecting infiltration.
• Soils with high clay content tend to have a lower permeability,
while soils that are high in sand content tend to have a higher
permeability
Topic 3: Soil permeability and infiltration
• Soil texture affects how fast water moves through the soil and the
pattern of movement.
• Water will move almost straight down through a sandy soil whereas it
will have more lateral movement in a soil with higher clay content

UCSC
Topic 3: Soil permeability and infiltration
What improves soil permeability?

• Soil structure: relates to pores between soil

particles.
• Practices that improve soil structure.
• Tillage: break up a soil that has become sealed

What else?

Google Image
Topic 3: Soil permeability and infiltration
Properties that relate to soil structure, permeability, and infiltration include:

• Salts: cause soil particles to disperse and clog pores. Such

soils tend to seal when wet
• Organic matter
• Compaction and pores: Fine-textured soils (soils with high
clay content) contain more total pore space than coarse-
textured soils (soils with high sand content) - the pore
spaces are smaller hence water moves more slowly
• Calcium: encouraging aggregation and increasing pore
size.
• Soil organisms: Micro- and macro-organisms encourage
the formation of soil aggregates and creating macropores in
the soil
Topic 3: Soil permeability and infiltration

• Dryness: Dry soils will repel water until they

become moistened to some degree – soils that
have high amounts of organic matter.
• Slope: Slope may cause water to run off rather than
enter the soil

Peninsula Environmental Group

Topic 3: Soil temperature
Plant processes

• Most plants are sensitive to soil

temperature than air
temperature for:

• Crop productivity
• Seed germination
• Root functions

Air/soil

(Xu and Huang, 2000, Crop science)

Topic 3: Soil temperature

Microbial processes Freezing and thawing

• Very critical. Optimum Permafrost
temperature: 35-40⁰C
Soil cover
• Soil aeration
• Decomposition of plant residues Soil heating by Fire
• N and C cycling
• Microbial oxidation NH4+ to NO3-

Contaminant removal

• Soil solarization (weed seeds,

fungal pathogen, insect pests)
• Volatilization of organic pollutants
(The Guardian.Sept 2019)
Topic 3: Soil temperature
• Wildfire heats up sandy soil and volatilizes organic compounds
• Solidify on cooler areas
• Waxlike hydrocarbons are water repellant and decreases water infiltration
Attendance and 5-min break

https://forms.gle/kSRFkKkzkR5YZmtk6
Topic 3: Tillage and structural management

• Soil tilth: dynamic and multifaceted concept that

refers to the suitability of a soil for planting and
growing crops - soil physical condition in relation to
plant growth
Topic 3: Tillage and structural management

• Conventional tillage – no protection against sun,

rain and wind
• More modern conservation tillage – 30% soil
surface covered by residues
• Soil crusting – after heavy rain creating surface seal
• Soil conditioners : Gypsum, organic polymers,
others
Topic 3: Managing soil tilth
• Minimize tillage
• Timing traffic activities– plan according to season and
region
• Mulching the soil surface
• Adding crop residue, compost, animal manures
• Include perennial sod crops –grasses and legumes
• Use cover crops – mustard, crimson clover
• Apply gypsum or calcium sulfate dihydrate - a
combination of high sodium, swelling clay and excess
water
Topic 3: Soil erosion and management

• In Malaysia, soil erosion is controlled using three

basic principles:
(1) agronomic methods
(2) soil management methods
(3) mechanical methods.
Topic 3: Soil erosion and management

• In Malaysia, soil erosion is controlled using three

basic principles:
(1) agronomic methods –vegetation for protection
Cheaper but
(2) soil management methods –improve soil fertility time-consuming
&structure to avoid soil erosion
(3) mechanical methods –physical and artificial structures
such as walls and hill terraces to reduce soil erosion
Topic 3: Soil erosion and management

• Why we need physical cover?

Topic 3: Agronomic method

• To cover from rain splash erosion and soil and water loss via runoff.
• 70% ground cover is sufficient (Morgan, 2005).
• Popular legumes as cover crops: Pueraria phaseoloides, Calopogonium
mucunoides, Centrosema pubescens, Mucuna bracteate, Vetiver grass

• Advantages: Fast growing, able to fix N, and provide thick and complete ground
cover.

Planted along hill slopes in urban areas.

This grass has a very deep, wide, and
dense rooting system (>2 m deep).
Topic 3: Mechanical method

• Examples: walls, gabions, and terraces.

• Terraces involve the use of heavy
machinery that can compact the soil
and remove fertile topsoil ➔ silt pits
instead.
• Bohluli et al. (2014) examined four
dimensions (width × length × depth in
meters) of silt pit: 1 × 3 × 1, 1.5 × 3 × 1,
2 × 3 × 1, and 2 × 3 × 0.5. Trap the water, sediments
nutrients that otherwise be lost
Key Findings:
• Silt pits increased soil water content between 3-19% and conserved more soil
nutrients than the control.
• The silt pit with the smallest opening area conserved more soil water content in oil
palm active root zone due to bigger wall-to-floor area (W:F) ratio

- higher lateral water infiltration through silt pit’s walls.

- water head to be higher ➔redistributed more dissolved nutrients into topsoil
Topic 3: Soil erodibility
• Malaysia’s annual rainfall: 2000–3000 mm
• Average daily wind speeds ~2 m/s.
• Erosion by water > erosion by wind
• The soil tends to be continuously wet from frequent and
heavy rainfall

Mahmud et al, 2018

Topic 3: Soil erodibility as K factor
• Soil erodibility is represented as the K factor in the RUSLE soil erosion model
• < K values denote that a soil (silt and sand) has a stronger resistance against
erosion
• > K values denote a weaker soil (clay) against erosion.

A range of K values using the soil properties of 76 soil series in Peninsular Malaysia (Yusof et al. 2011)

• High clay content: Akob, Batu Anam, and Chengai,

• High silt or sand content: Rudua, Holyrood, Lunas, and Marang.