Soil moisture variability and land use in a seasonally arid environment

Abstract

Abstract Soil moisture patterns were recorded for six different land uses, including oak forest, matorral scrub, olives, and a cultivated field, in central Spain during 1998–99. Volumetric water content was determined using time domain reflectometry at more than 140 sites in each, extending across a range of topographic units. Soil moisture content was a function of land use, with the oak forest being wetter than either the matorral shrubby area or the cultivated site. The spatial patterns for a wet period were kriged and are presented as interpolated contour plots. Geo‐statistical analysis confirmed that the patterns were highly heterogeneous, as the variograms showed a pure nugget for each land use, except for the two olive sites, where some spatial structure could be observed. During the investigation the soils were in the dry state and the soil moisture distribution was controlled by ‘local’ factors; it was not possible to determine which environmental factor had the most influence. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.