Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Journals |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.geoderma.2026.117911 |
Licence  |
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| Title (Primary) | Connecting saturated hydraulic conductivity to soil aggregation on croplands along a European climate transect |
| Author | Burger, D.J.; Amelung, W.; Heidtmann, A.P.; Geske, M.S.; Schimmel, H.; Andersson, M.; Cobos Sabate, J.; Díaz Delgado, R.; Gundersen, P.; Ibañez, M.; Jensen, K.H.; Looms, M.C.; Redondo-Hasselerharm, P.E.; Rico, A.; Sebastià, M.T.; Spielvogel, S.; Vesterdal, L.; Wallsten, J.; Westin, J.; Zacharias, S.
; Zimmerman, I.; Weihermüller, L.; Vereecken, H.; Bauke, S.L. |
| Source Titel | Geoderma |
| Year | 2026 |
| Department | MET |
| Volume | 472 |
| Page From | art. 117911 |
| Language | englisch |
| Topic | T5 Future Landscapes |
| Supplements | Supplement 1 Supplement 2 |
| Keywords | Hydraulic conductivity; Soil structure; Climatic gradient; Soil aggregates; Pedotransfer functions |
| Abstract | Soil aggregates facilitate the infiltration of water into soils. However, information on soil aggregates has not been used for prediction of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) in hydrological or Land Surface Models (LSM) so far. We hypothesized that aggregate size, described by the mean weight diameter (MWD), is a key driver of Ks across different climates. To test this, 49 cropland soils were sampled along a climosequence from Northern Sweden to Southern Spain. Tension infiltrometer measurements were performed to determine Ks, which were then predicted using basic soil properties and aggregate size. 10 existing pedotransfer functions (PTFs) using easy-to-measure soil properties were tested. Without recalibration of the regression coefficients to our data, all existing PTFs performed poorly. After calibration, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and R2 values improved to 0.81–1.10 (lnKs) and 0.10–0.51, respectively. Subsequently, two new regression-based PTFs were developed, using soil organic carbon (SOC) content and soil texture as predictors, and explained up to 61% of the data variability. Additionally, MWD could be predicted using soil texture, bulk density, and SOC, with an R2 of 0.9 and an RMSE of 343 µm, which allowed replacement of laboratory MWD measurements. Aggregate MWD alone could not predict Ks, but the performance of the two newly developed PTF substantially reduced the RMSE and increased the R2 up to 0.68 after combining MWD with soil texture and SOC. Using simple linear models for predicting aggregate MWD and implementing MWD into PTFs allows for better Ks estimation, and thus, water infiltration and transport in soils. |
| Burger, D.J., Amelung, W., Heidtmann, A.P., Geske, M.S., Schimmel, H., Andersson, M., Cobos Sabate, J., Díaz Delgado, R., Gundersen, P., Ibañez, M., Jensen, K.H., Looms, M.C., Redondo-Hasselerharm, P.E., Rico, A., Sebastià, M.T., Spielvogel, S., Vesterdal, L., Wallsten, J., Westin, J., Zacharias, S., Zimmerman, I., Weihermüller, L., Vereecken, H., Bauke, S.L. (2026): Connecting saturated hydraulic conductivity to soil aggregation on croplands along a European climate transect Geoderma 472 , art. 117911 10.1016/j.geoderma.2026.117911 |
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