What soil properties influence soil moisture?
1 Answer
Porosity, structure and texture some some of the main properties of soil that influence soil moisture.
Explanation:
Porosity: Soil pores play a huge factor in the ability to retain water. Fine textured soils generally have smaller pores (i.e. clay loam), where as coarse textured soils (i.e. sandy soil) have larger pores.
Structure: Cluster of soil are called "peds" (Fun fact: pedon = Greek for "soil", thus the study of pedology). The structure of soil plays a large factor in its porosity, as porosity can change as structure changes. Soil's ability to retain water or to let it pass through is related to its structure, as is its ability to retain vital nutrients (i.e. Nitrogen or phosphorous). Generally, peds are held together by organic matter.
Texture: Think of the difference between gravel and clay. Imagine pouring water over a bucket of gravel versus a bucket of clay, then think of the path that water must pass through in order to reach the bottom. Of course, the gravel bucket will allow water to pass through the fastest not just because of the space between each gravel particle, but also because of the lack of pores inside the particle itself. As weathering occurs though, larger particles are broken down into smaller particles that can improve water/nutrient retention as they allow for greater pore inter and intra-soil storage.
