Linking hydropedology and ecosystem services: differential controls of surface field saturated hydraulic conductivity in a volcanic setting in central Mexico

Abstract. In this study the variation of field saturated soil hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) as key control variable and descriptor of infiltration was examined by means of a constant head single ring infiltrometer. The study took place in five coverage types and land uses in a volcanic setting in central Mexico. The tested hypothesis was that there exist a positive relationship between plant cover and surface Kfs for the study area. The examined coverage types included; Second growth pine-oak forest, pasture land, fallow land, gully and Cupresus afforestation. Results indicate that Kfs did not depend exclusively of plant cover; it was related to surface horizontal expression of the unburied soil horizons and linked to land use history. Therefore the Kfs measured at a certain location did not depend exclusively of the actual land use, it was also influenced by soil bioturbation linked to plant succession patterns and land use management practices history. The hypothesis accounts partially the variation between sites. Kfs under dense plant cover at the Cupresus afforestation was statistically equal to that measured at the fallow land or the gully sites, while second growth pine-oak forest Kfs figures were over an order of magnitude higher than the rest of the coverage types. The results suggest the relevance of unburied soil horizons in the soil hydrologic response when present at the surface. Under these conditions loosing surface soil horizons due to erosion, not only fertility is lost, but environmental services generation potential. A conceptual model within the hydropedological approach is proposed. It explains the possible controls of Kfs, for this volcanic setting. Land use history driven erosion plays a decisive role in subsurface horizon presence at the surface and soil matrix characteristic determination, while plant succession patterns seem to be strongly linked to soil bioturbation and preferential flow channel formation.