<br />subsoil gave a correlation coefficient of 0.54; surface
<br />organic matter, 0.50; clay content of the subsoil,
<br />OA2; and organic matter in the subsoil, OAO, When
<br />the factors were combined in multiple correlations,
<br />the highest multiple coefficlent of 0,71 was obtained
<br />with noncapillary porosity, organic matter of both
<br />surface and subsoil, and clay content of the subsoil.
<br />
<br />Effect of frost
<br />
<br />Frozen ground affects infiltration. If frozen
<br />when very dry, some soils are fluffed up and frost is
<br />discontinuous, as in the honeycomb and stalactite
<br />types. A soil under this condition may be permeable
<br />as, or even more permeable than, frost-free soil. On
<br />the other hand, if the soil is frozen while saturated,
<br />concrete frost in the form of a very dense, nearly
<br />impermeable layer often results, Trimble et a1. (1958)
<br />found that in the Northeast, infiltration was zero on
<br />concrete frost in the open and forest area, but was
<br />not affected where soil was traversed by large holes in
<br />which water had not frozen, Infiltration tests on
<br />concrete frost in northern Minnesota forest and
<br />grassland gave 0.09 in./hr of infiltration rate in
<br />silt.]oam soils and OA7 in./hr in sands (Stoeckeler and
<br />Weitzman, ] 960),
<br />
<br />Effect of plant cover
<br />
<br />Musgrave and Holtan (1964) have stated that
<br />vegetation is one of the most significant factors
<br />affecting surface entry of water. Vegetation or mulch
<br />protects the soil surface from rainfall impact. Massive
<br />plant root systems such as grass in sods perforate the
<br />soil, keeping it unconsolidated and porous, The
<br />organic matter from crops promotes a crumb struc.
<br />ture and improves permeability, On the other hand,
<br />vegetation such as a row crop gives less protection
<br />from raindrop impact, depending upon the stage of
<br />growth, and the root system perforates only small
<br />portions of the soil profile and the normal
<br />accompanying tillage may further reduce perme.
<br />ability, Forest litter, crop residues, and other humus
<br />materials protect the soil surface, High biotic activity
<br />in and beneath surface l,ayers opens up the soil,
<br />resulting in high entrance capacities.
<br />
<br />Hays (1949) showed the general trend ofresults
<br />obtained at three latitudes in the central U.S, by
<br />comparing runoff amounts from continuous row
<br />crops, crops in 3-year rotations, and continuous grass,
<br />At the Upper Mississippi Valley Conservation Experi.
<br />ment Station, La Crosse, Wisconsin, for instance, it
<br />was found that average annual runoff on Fayette silt
<br />loam with a slope of 16 percent was 27,7 percent of
<br />rain fail for continuous corn (row crop); 20,6 percent
<br />for corn in rotation of corn-barley-red clover; 18.9
<br />percent for barley in the rotation; 11.5 percent for
<br />red clover in the rotation; and 5.5 percent for
<br />protected bluegrass, Similar comparisons for the Red
<br />
<br />Plains Conservation Experiment Station, Guthrie,
<br />Oklahoma, and the Missouri Valley Loess Conserva-
<br />tion Experiment Station, Clarinda, Iowa, were re-
<br />ported (G]ymph and Holtan, 1969), It is evident that
<br />runoff from these plots is inversely related to the
<br />density of vegetation and the frequency of cultiva-
<br />tion,
<br />
<br />The density of herbaceous vegetation is closely
<br />related to infiltration, as has been attested by several
<br />studies on the western range, Packer (195]), for
<br />instance, found that the percent of the soil covered
<br />by living or dead plant parts was closely related to
<br />runoff, and therefore to infiltration. As cover density
<br />increased to about 70 percent on wheatgrass and
<br />cheatg~ass areas, overland flow decreased. At densities
<br />above 70 percent, there was little further decrease.
<br />Fibrous-rooted vegetation such as wheatgrass has
<br />been found to be much more effective in controlling
<br />runoff than taprooted annual weeds (Lull, 1964).
<br />
<br />The great influence of vegetated cover on
<br />infiltration is further evidenced by the fact that
<br />bare.soil infiltration capacity can be increased 3 to
<br />7.5 times with good permanent forest or grass cover,
<br />but little or no increase results with poor row crops
<br />(Jens and McPherson, ] 964).
<br />
<br />Duley and Kelley (1939) considered that there
<br />might be far greater variations between the infiltra-
<br />tion rates obtained under different surface conditions
<br />on a single soil type than on different soil types
<br />having the same surface condition, This consideration
<br />may make it necessary to study the infiltration rate
<br />characteristic of surface conditions rather than that
<br />of a specific soil type,
<br />
<br />Although plant cover is like all other factors
<br />that affect inf1ltration and runoff, it is not an
<br />independent factor. Rauzi and Fly (1968) found that
<br />in general water intake rate increased with vegetal
<br />cover, and that this increase was about 1 inch per
<br />hour per 2,000 Ibs per acre vegetal cover with good
<br />soil structure, and I inch per hour per 3,200 lbs per
<br />acre with poor soil structure. A large number of tests
<br />on the silty range site enabled the separation of rates
<br />of water intake of three major soil structure classes,
<br />The amount of vegetal cover required to increase the
<br />rate of water intake I inch per hour for the silty
<br />range site was between 1,000 and 5,000 Ibs per acre,
<br />At the 3,000 lbs per acre level of vegetal cover, the
<br />mean water intake rates were for excellent structure,
<br />2AO inches per hour; for fair to good structure, 1.65
<br />inches per hour; and for poor structure, 1.10 inches
<br />per hour. The clayey range site included soil textures
<br />of sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, and clay. Water
<br />intake increased rapidly when the vegetal cover
<br />increased to between 500 and 3,000 lbs per acre, No
<br />increase in water intake and even a slight decrease was
<br />noted with more than 4,000 lbs per acre of total
<br />
<br />6
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