Relationship between forest condition and some soil physical characteristics in a small watershed

抄録

The objective of the study is to establish the relationship between Forest Conditions and some soil physical characteristics such as soil porosity, infiltration rate, moisture content, water maximum, soil depth, soil hardness, soil color and degree of erosion. The study has been conducted in a small watershed, located upstream the Ishitegawa Dam in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture.
Forest operations and degree of lightness significantly affected most of the soil related variables in both A and B layers. The means for those variables were higher in plots having experienced forest thinning (mostly those that have lighter plots) than in others. Natural forests (broadleaved species) showed higher means of most soil variables than artificial forests.