Soil & Tillage Research 90 (2006) 117–125

www.elsevier.com/locate/still

Effect of soil compaction on hydraulic

properties of two loess soils in China
Shulan Zhang a,b,*, Harald Grip b, Lars Lövdahl b
a
College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University,
Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
b
Department of Forest Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, SE-90183, Sweden
Received 12 May 2005; received in revised form 12 August 2005; accepted 26 August 2005

Abstract
Soil compaction affects hydraulic properties, and thus can lead to soil degradation and other adverse effects on environmental
quality. This study evaluates the effects of three levels of compaction on the hydraulic properties of two silty loam soils from the
Loess Plateau, China. Undisturbed soil cores were collected from the surface (0–5 cm) and subsurface (10–15 cm) layers at sites in
Mizhi and Heyang in Shaanxi Province. The three levels of soil compaction were set by increasing soil bulk density by 0% (C0),
10% (C1) and 20% (C2) through compression and hammering in the laboratory. Soil water retention curves were then determined,
and both saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity were estimated for all of the samples using
standard suction apparatus, a constant head method and the hot-air method, respectively. The high level of compaction (C2)
significantly changed the water retention curves of both the surface and subsurface layers of the Heyang soil, and both levels of
compaction (C1 and C2) changed the curves of the two layers from the Mizhi site. However, the effects of compaction on the two
soils were only pronounced below water tensions of 100 kPa. Saturated hydraulic conductivities (Ks) were significantly reduced by
the highest compaction level for both sampled layers of the Heyang soil, but no difference was observed in this respect between the
C0 and C1 treatments. Ks values decreased with increasing soil compaction for both layers of the Mizhi soil. Unsaturated hydraulic
conductivities were not affected by soil compaction levels in the measured water volume ratio range, and the values obtained were
two to five orders of magnitude higher for the Mizhi soil than for the Heyang soil. The results indicate that soil compaction could
strongly influence, in different ways, the hydraulic properties of the two soils.
# 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Compaction levels; Hydraulic conductivity; Soil water retention; Loess Plateau of China

1. Introduction and size distributions (Flowers and Lal, 1998; Radford

Soil compaction caused by vehicular traffic is a
global problem that may affect 68 Mha of land
(Oldeman et al., 1991). The detrimental effects of soil
compaction caused by traffic include increased bulk
density, decreased porosity, and shifts in pore shapes
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 29 87088120.
E-mail address: zhangshulan@nwsuaf.edu.cn (S. Zhang).
et al., 2000; Richard et al., 2001; Pagliai et al., 2003).
Changes in these basic properties alter the soil’s water
retention and hydraulic conductivity characteristics,
which in turn affect the infiltration ability of the soil and
its plant-available water storage capacity. Consequently,
soil compaction can have serious effects on soil quality
parameters and, hence, on crop growth and environ-
mental quality.
The effect of soil compaction depends on the
compaction effort, soil type, water status, landscape

0167-1987/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.still.2005.08.012
118 S. Zhang et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 90 (2006) 117–125
position, and cropping system involved (Kirkegaard
et al., 1993; Radford et al., 2000; Miller et al., 2002;
Green et al., 2003; Sillon et al., 2003; Tarawally et al.,
2004). The effects of traffic on soil hydraulic properties,
which have been investigated by several authors, appear
to depend on the prevailing conditions, as shown by the
contrasting results of Hill and Sumner (1967), Hill and
Meza-Montalvo (1990), Richard et al. (2001), Sillon
et al. (2003), Stenitzer and Murer (2003) and Tarawally
et al. (2004). Hill and Sumner (1967) measured soil
water retention for a variety of soils artificially
compacted to various bulk densities. Compaction-
induced changes in the measured water retention
curves varied by soil textural class. Radford et al.
(2000) studied responses of soil properties in a clay soil
(Vertisol) to harvester traffic under three axle loads (0,
10 and 12 Mg) in wet soil conditions. The applied
compaction caused a statistically significant increase in
the soil’s bulk density, and decreased its unsaturated
hydraulic conductivity. Sillon et al. (2003) found that a
calcareous soil had a higher hydraulic conductivity,
across the whole range of water ratios tested, following
a compaction treatment. However, the hydraulic
conductivity of a loess soil was similar following all
treatments with water ratios >0.3, and in drier
conditions (i.e. water ratios <0.3), the hydraulic
conductivity was lowest in a spring-tilled plot they
examined and highest following the compaction
treatment. Miller et al. (2002) reported soil water
characteristic curves (SWCCs) to be more sensitive to
changes in compaction effort than changes in water
content when compaction occurred. In addition,
SWCCs for soils compacted in the laboratory and the
field showed similar changes in hydraulic properties.
Results obtained by Tarawally et al. (2004), on the other
hand, suggested that soil total porosity was not a good
indicator of compaction effects, and that it should not,
therefore, be used as a soil compaction index, as
previously recommended by Al-Adawi and Reeder
(1996). However, Green et al. (2003) noted that field
traffic had significant effects on soil compaction and
related hydraulic properties in some soils and climates,
while in others, landscape and temporal variations were
so strong that any effects of wheel tracks were relatively
negligible. As Lipiec and Hatano (2003) stated,
experimental data relating the effect of soil compaction
to unsaturated flows are very limited. Thus, further
studies are needed to accumulate a database for model
applications and to extend our knowledge in this
respect.
With the development of modern agriculture in
China the use of machinery is becoming more and
more frequent in field operations, and agricultural
soils are increasingly likely to be subjected to the
same kinds of compaction as those in developed
countries. However, there is no information on the
effects of compaction on soil hydraulic properties in
the Loess Plateau, China. Therefore, the purpose of
the study reported here was to determine changes in
water retention characteristics and hydraulic con-
ductivity at different compaction levels for two soils
from this region.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Soils and sampling
Taking care not to compact the soil, undisturbed soil
cores (5 cm high and 7 cm in diameter) of the silty loam
soils were randomly collected at 0–5 cm and 10–15 cm
depths from agricultural fields at two sites: one
(Chromic Cambisols, FAO-Unesco Soil Map of the
World, 1974) in Heyang (N 358200 E 110850 , 910 m
a.s.l.) and the other (Calcic Cambisols) in Mizhi (N
378460 E 110870 , 1022 m a.s.l.), located in the south-
eastern and northern parts, respectively, of the Loess
Plateau of China. From each layer 39 cores were taken
from each of the two soils. Thus, in total 156 soil cores
were taken.
At the same time additional soil samples were taken
for analyzing selected physical and chemical properties.
Particle size distribution was determined by the
hydrometer method (Gee and Bauder, 1986), particle
density by the method of Blake and Hartge (1986) and
organic carbon by a CHN elemental analyzer (Perkin-
Elmer Model 2400).
2.2. Compaction
A set of five cores was tested, for each permutation of
soil layer and compaction level, to determine the effects
of compaction on the soils’ water retention curves, and a
further five or eight for determining its effects on their
saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity para-
meters. The soils were compacted by pressing and
hammering one (C1) or two (C2) 5 mm thick PVC
plate/s into the cylinders until the upper side of the plate
was level with the cylinder rim. These treatments
increased the bulk density for C1 and C2 samples by 10
and 20% and decreased the length of the soil cores by 5
and 10 mm, respectively. The water content of the soils
at the time of compaction was between 15 and 20
volumetric percent for the Heyang soil, and somewhat
lower for the Mizhi soil.
 S. Zhang et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 90 (2006) 117–125
2.3. Determination of soil water retention curves
Soil cores from the different treatments (five
replicates) were first gradually saturated from the
bottom using tap water, and then soil water retention
was measured after equilibration to a series of soil water
tensions (0, 0.25, 0.75, 2.0, 5.0, 8.0, 20.0, 30.0, 50.0,
100.0 and 300.0 kPa) by the standard ceramic tension
plates. The wilting point (1500 kPa) was determined on
disturbed samples by ceramic tension plate.
The soil moisture content was expressed as the water
volume ratio (W, volume of water per unit volume of
solid phase) by


r
#¼ w (1)
rw
where r is the soil particle density, rw is the water
density (assumed to be 1 g cm
3), and w is the gravi-
metric water content. Thus, W does not depend on the
changes in soil bulk density and is the preferred variable
to use for swelling soil (Hillel, 2004, p.15). Soil water
retention data were fitted using the model of van
Genuchten (1980)
1 sidered, i.e.
Se ¼ (2)
½1 þ ðacÞn m
where
u
ur #
#r
Se ¼ ¼ ;
us
ur #s
#r
s and r indicate saturated and residual values of the
volumetric moisture content u or water volume ratio W,
respectively, a, m and n are parameters where
m = 1
1/n, and c is the soil water tension (kPa).
The same fixed values of residual water content were
used for all samples of the same soil, and Ws, a and m
was fitted by the software Origin (Origin, Vers. 7, 2003,
OriginLab Corp., USA).
2.4. Determination of soil hydraulic conductivity
Soil cores from different treatments (five replicates)
were saturated to measure saturated hydraulic con-
ductivity (Ks) by the constant head method (Klute and
Dirksen, 1986). Then these soil cores plus cores without
running for Ks were equilibrated in a pressure chamber
to determine their diffusivity D (W) by the hot-air
method (Arya et al., 1975). Due to high hydraulic
conductivity at high water content it was difficult to
keep the water content constant at the bottom of
cylinder during the drying process. Preliminary tests
119
showed that the required moisture distribution curves
for the Heyang and Mizhi soils could be produced by
equilibrating the soil cores to tensions of 100 and 20 kPa
followed by drying times of 20 and 15 min, respectively.
The hot air was blown against one end of each core,
causing the sample to dry out quickly from that end. By
cutting such cores into thin slices (2–4 mm) and
determining the moisture content of each slice, a
moisture distribution curve W(z) can be established. If
the water content in the bottom of the soil core has not
changed from the initial water content, and the
evaporation rate is proportional to the square root of
the drying time, the diffusivity D(W) can be calculated
from:
Z
1 dz #i
Dð#Þ ¼ zd# (3)
2t d# #
where t is the total drying time, z is the distance from the
evaporating surface, and Wi is the initial water volume
ratio. The calculation of diffusivity followed the pro-
cedure described by Gieske and De Vries (1990). The
unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was subsequently
obtained by multiplying D(W) by dW/dc, the slope of
the soil water retention curve at the point being con-
d#
Kð#Þ ¼ Dð#Þ (4)
dc
2.5. Statistical analysis
Mean values, standard deviations and standard errors
are reported for each of the measurements. ANOVA was
used to assess the effects of compaction on the
measured variables. When ANOVA indicated a sig-
nificant F-value, multiple comparisons of mean values
were performed by the least significant difference
method (LSD). The SPSS software package (2003) was
used for all of the statistical analyses.
3. Results
3.1. Soil characteristics
According to the USDA soil texture classification
system, both soils were silty loams (Table 1). Never-
theless, they were quite different in terms of their
particle size distribution and organic carbon content,
although they had similar bulk density, and same
particle density. The soil in Heyang contained twice as
much clay and much less sand than that in Mizhi, but
had similar silt contents. Furthermore, the organic
120 S. Zhang et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 90 (2006) 117–125

Table 1
Selected physical properties of the soils
Site Depth (cm) Compaction Bulk density Particle density Sand 0.05–2 Silt 0.002–0.05 Clay <0.002 Organic carbon
level (g cm
3) (g cm
3) mm (%) mm (%) mm (%) (g kg
1)
Heyang 0–5 C0 1.27 (0.09)a 2.65 2.8 76.5 20.6 13.5b
C1 1.37 (0.10)
C2 1.60 (0.12)
10–15 C0 1.29 (0.11) 2.65 1.6 73.6 24.8
C1 1.45 (0.16)
C2 1.65 (0.14)
Mizhi 0–5 C0 1.30 (0.02) 2.65 27.7 60.6 11.7 5.5
C1 1.45 (0.03)
C2 1.61 (0.03)
10–15 C0 1.34 (0.03) 2.65 29.5 60.3 10.2
C1 1.47 (0.01)
C2 1.69 (0.04)
a
Numbers in parentheses are standard deviations.
b
Organic carbon was determined for 0–20 cm soil depth.

carbon content in Heyang soil was more than double
that in the soil at Mizhi. On the whole, there are
significant differences in physical properties between
the two soils.
3.2. Soil water retention curves
The soil water retention curves obtained at different
compaction levels for the two soils are shown in Fig. 1
and the fitted parameters in van Genuchten’s equation
(Eq. (2)) are given in Table 2. Soil from the Heyang site
that was subjected to the low level of compaction (C1)
retained less water than the non-compacted soil (C0) for
water tensions 0.75 kPa, but there were no significant
differences across the whole measured tension range
between C0 and C1 for either soil depth. In contrast, the
high level of compaction (C2) significantly decreased
the water content of the surface layer (0–5 cm) at
tensions <2 kPa and that of the subsurface layer (10–
15 cm) at tensions 5 kPa (P < 0.05). The surface layer
soil water volume ratio of soil from the Mizhi site
significantly decreased with increased compaction
levels at tensions 8 kPa (P < 0.01), but no differences
were found among the treatments at tensions >8 kPa.

Fig. 1. Soil water retention curves at different levels of compaction (C0, 0%; C1, 10%; and C2, 20%; VG, fitted by the van Genuchten model) of soil
from the Heyang (left panel) and Mihzi (right panel) sites at 0–5 cm (upper) and 10–15 cm (lower) soil depths. The same symbols mean replicates.
 S. Zhang et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 90 (2006) 117–125 121

Table 2
Parameters from the van Genuchten model fit (m = 1
1/n)
Site Soil depth (cm) Compaction level Wsa (cm3 cm
3) Wr (cm3 cm
3) a (kPa
1) n R2
Heyang 0–5 C0 1.165 0.125 3.221 1.203 0.926
0–5 C1 0.967 0.125 0.405 1.221 0.926
0–5 C2 0.757 0.125 0.125 1.264 0.926
10–15 C0 1.154 0.125 2.552 1.180 0.924
10–15 C1 1.054 0.125 0.992 1.195 0.924
10–15 C2 0.708 0.125 0.134 1.176 0.924
Mizhi 0–5 C0 1.005 0.080 0.089 2.173 0.986
0–5 C1 0.919 0.080 0.080 2.190 0.986
0–5 C2 0.832 0.080 0.074 2.061 0.986
10–15 C0 1.001 0.080 0.095 2.204 0.982
10–15 C1 0.897 0.080 0.082 2.214 0.982
10–15 C2 0.764 0.080 0.071 2.072 0.982
a
Ws is the saturated water volume ratio, Wr is the residual water volume ratio, a and n are shape factors of the VG model. R2 is determination
coefficient of fitness and optimized simultaneously for all treatments of each depth, respectively.

For the subsurface layer, the soil water volume ratio
significantly decreased with increased compaction
levels at tensions 5 kPa (P < 0.01). No difference
was observed in this respect between C0 and C1 at
tensions 8 kPa, but the C2 treatment resulted in
significantly lower water ratios than the C0 and C1
treatments at a tension of 8 kPa (P < 0.01), and a
significantly higher water ratio than the C0 treatment at
a tension of 20 kPa (P < 0.05).
The saturated water volume ratio decreased with
increasing compaction levels regardless of soil type and
soil depth (Table 2). In comparison with C0, the saturated
water volume ratio following the C1 and C2 treatments
was 13 and 37% lower for the Heyang soil, and it was 9
and 20% lower for the Mizhi site, respectively. For both
soils, the parameter a values decreased with increasing
compaction levels, reflecting the associated increases in
air entry tension. In contrast, n values were similar among
compaction levels, indicating that the compaction
treatments had not affected the shape of the soil water
retention curves. The saturated water volume ratios for
the C0 and C1 treatments were higher for the Heyang soil
than for the Mizhi soil, as were the residual water ratio
and a values. Conversely, the C2 treatment resulted in

Fig. 2. Saturated hydraulic conductivity at different levels of compaction (C0, 0%; C1, 10%; and C2, 20%) of soil from two layers (0–5 cm and 10–
15 cm) from Heyang (left panel) and Mihzi (right panel). Error bars indicate standard errors.
122 S. Zhang et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 90 (2006) 117–125
Fig. 3. Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity determined by the hot-air method as affected by soil compaction (C0, 0%; C1, 10%; and C2, 20%) of soil
from the Heyang (left panel) and Mihzi (right panel) sites at 0–5 cm (upper) and 10–15 cm (lower) soil depths.
lower saturated water volume ratios when applied to the
Heyang soil than when applied to the Mizhi soil.
3.3. Saturated conductivity
The effect of soil compaction on saturated hydraulic
conductivity (Ks) is shown in Fig. 2. Generally, for the
Heyang soil Ks values were higher in the surface layer
than in the subsurface layer (Fig. 2, left panel). The C2
treatment resulted in significantly lower Ks values than the
C0 and C1 treatments (P  0.05), but there was no
significant difference between the C0 and C1 treatments
in this respect. In contrast, Ks values decreased
significantly when the compaction level increased in
the Mizhi soil (Fig. 2, right panel) (P < 0.01). Further-
more, the variations between measurements (standard
errors) for each treatment of the Mizhi soil were small in
comparison with corresponding variations for the Heyang
soil. The Ks values following the C2 treatment were only
18 and 8% of the corresponding values for the C0-treated
surface and subsurface layers from Heyang, respectively.
In contrast Ks values following the C2 treatment of the
Mizhi soil were equivalent to 36 and 28% of the C0
treatment values for the respective soil layers.
3.4. Unsaturated conductivity
The hydraulic conductivity, obtained by the hot-air
method, is shown in Fig. 3 as a function of the water
volume ratio. There were no major differences among
treatments for either of the soil depths at either site. Soil
from the Mizhi site showed higher hydraulic con-
ductivity than soil at the Heyang site. Under similar
water ratios, the hydraulic conductivity of the two soils
differed by more than five orders of magnitude in dry
conditions and by two to three orders of magnitude in
wet conditions. The hydraulic conductivity changed
more rapidly with changes in the soil water ratio in soil
from Heyang than in soil from Mizhi.
4. Discussion
The water retention curves of the Heyang soil
became flatter with increasing compaction levels when
soil water was expressed as volumetric water content
(data not shown), in accordance with previous
observations (Assouline et al., 1997; Miller et al.,
2002; Stenitzer and Murer, 2003). The relationship
between volumetric water content and water tension is
dependent on bulk density, and thus might give
misleading indications concerning the effects of
compaction on soil water retention. The relationship
between soil water volume ratio and water tension
might provide greater insight into compaction effects on
soil water retention. Hence, we discuss water volume
ratios below, unless otherwise stated.
The low level of compaction did not significantly
affect the water retention of the Heyang soil (from either
depth), due to the large variations between replicates,
caused by natural field variations and soil management
 S. Zhang et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 90 (2006) 117–125
(Fig. 1). Similar results have been found for several soils
in different landscapes by Green et al. (2003). This
implies that our low compaction level (10%) was within
the range of normal field variation. However, the high
level of compaction (C2) significantly decreased pore
volumes with equivalent pore diameters >150 mm in
the surface layer, and with equivalent pore diameters
60 mm in the subsurface layer (Fig. 1), which directly
correlated to saturated flow (Pagliai et al., 2003).
Tarawally et al. (2004) reported that compaction
significantly reduced the pore volume with equivalent
pore diameter >50 mm in a Rhodic Ferralsol. The
significant reduction in large pores due to compaction
(C2) would influence air exchange and root develop-
ment since the growth of feeding roots requires pores
ranging from 100 to 200 mm in diameter (Tippkotter,
1983). The water retention of the Mizhi soil was
significantly influenced by compaction across a wider
tension range than the Heyang soil, for both depths, and
there was a significant difference between the two
compaction treatments (Fig. 1). Nevertheless, effects of
soil compaction for the two soils were still only
pronounced below tensions of 100 kPa. This is
consistent with expectations, since the amount of water
retained at low matric suctions (0–100 kPa) depends on
capillarity and the pore size distribution, which are both
strongly affected by soil structure at low suctions. At
high suctions (100–1500 kPa) water retention is more
influenced by soil texture and specific area (Hillel,
2004). This means that compaction levels in the present
study did not affect the textural pores, but significantly
changed the structural pores, which form the main
functional environment for plant roots.
Saturated hydraulic conductivity has been used to
evaluate the effect of soil compaction on water flow, since
Ks values are predominantly governed by the abundance of
relatively large pores and their continuity (Pagliai et al.,
2003 and Lipiec and Hatano, 2003). Therefore, changes in
this group of pores tend to have a strong influence on Ks
values. Our results showed that Ks values were heavily
reduced by the two soil compaction levels in both Heyang
and Mizhi soil (Fig. 2), correlating well with the changes in
the water retention curves discussed above. The C1
treatment decreased the saturated hydraulic conductivity
relative to C0, but no significant differences were detected
between these treatments for the Heyang soil, due to the
large variation among replicates. Similar findings were
reported by Alakukku (1996) and Green et al. (2003). At
the highest compaction level the effect of the compaction
on the soil from Heyang was sufficiently strong, in relation
to field variations, to significantly reduce Ks values.
Because the soil at Mizhi was very homogenous, even the
123
low level of compaction (as well as the high level) caused
significant changes in soil water retention and Ks values.
However, the extents to which the compaction levels
reduced Ks and saturated water volume ratios (Fig. 2 and
Table 2) imply that the Mizhi soil was more sensitive to
low levels of compaction than the Heyang soil, but less
affected by high levels of compaction.
The topography of the Loess Plateau typically
consists of ridges and gullies (as exemplified by the
Mizhi site), where soil erosion is more severe than
anywhere else in the world (Zhang et al., 1998), and
plateaux (as exemplified by the Heyang site). At the
Mizhi site, soil surface runoff will increase following
compaction, further increasing soil erosion. At the
Heyang site, compaction of the soil by even fairly
moderate pressures (for example, C2 levels) could
reduce Ks to very low values and thus raise the
possibility of floods if heavy rain falls.
Unsaturated hydraulic conductivities were not
affected by the soil compaction levels tested, for either
the Mizhi or Heyang soils. However, the unsaturated
hydraulic conductivity of the Mizhi soil from both
depths tended to be lower following the C2 treatment
than following the C0 treatment. Stenitzer and Murer
(2003) reported similar changes in hydraulic conduc-
tivity between compacted and non-compacted soil at
tensions >10 kPa in tests with a loamy silt soil. Sillon
et al. (2003), however, found that the compaction
treatment gave a higher value in the dry soil moisture
range (water volume ratio <0.3 cm3 cm
3) and no
difference in the wet range for a loess soil. It is difficult
to compare results from different experiments due to
variations in the soils and compaction efforts used.
However, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity depends
on the continuity of the small pores within soil
fragments under certain moisture conditions (Guérif
et al., 2001). Thus, it seems logical that the treatments
did not affect the unsaturated hydraulic conductivities at
either site in our study because there were no significant
differences among treatments at pore sizes <60 mm for
the Heyang soil and at pore sizes <15 mm for the Mizhi
soil. The water volume ratio corresponding to our
measured unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was
beyond the range where compaction had significant
effects on pore sizes and spaces (Figs. 1 and 3).
Therefore, hydraulic conductivity among treatments
should be the same at the same water volume ratio.
5. Conclusions
Hydraulic conductivities of two soils from the Loess
Plateau region, China, responded in somewhat different
124 S. Zhang et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 90 (2006) 117–125
ways to different levels of soil compaction. Water
retention curves for both the surface and subsurface
layers from the two sites were significantly changed by
the tested levels of soil compaction, but the tension
range affected was wider for the Mizhi soil than the
Heyang soil. Differences in the properties (physical and
chemical) of the two soils resulted in different field
variations. Thus, effects of the low compaction level
were masked by large field variations at Heyang, but not
at Mizhi.
Saturated conductivities were significantly reduced
by the high compaction level for both soil layers in
Heyang soil, but due to large field variations no
significant differences were found between the non-
compacted treatment and the C1 treatment. In Mizhi
soil Ks values significantly decreased with increasing
soil compaction levels for both soil layers.
Unsaturated hydraulic conductivities were not
affected by soil compaction levels in the measured
water volume ratio range. Soil from Mizhi had two to
five orders of magnitude higher conductivity values
than soil from Heyang.
In conclusion, the results indicate that soil compac-
tion could greatly influence hydraulic properties,
depending on the compaction effort, soil type and field
variability.
Acknowledgements
The study was supported by a cooperative project
between Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
and Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University
(INEC-KTS/453/01), project of NSFC, China (No.
30370822) and the Natural Science Foundation of
Shaanxi Province, China (No. 2004D03).
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