Introduction:

World agriculture is characterized by intensive land use, which causes variations in physical and hydrological properties, regarded as key for agricultural productivity.

Objective:

To study the effect of land use change from forest to agriculture land with organic and conventional management on the physical and hydrological properties of an Andosol.

Materials and methods:

Four land use scenarios were evaluated: a forest land use scenario, two with Persea americana Mill var. Hass with conventional and organic management, and one with Macadamia integrifolia Maiden & Betche. Physical properties (texture, bulk density [BD], mechanical resistance to penetration [MRP] and porosity) and hydrological properties (moisture, hydraulic conductivity, infiltration, permanent wilting point [PWP], field capacity and available water) were determined. These variables were analyzed by parametric (ANOVA) and non-parametric (Kruskal-Wallis) statistics to determine differences among land use scenarios and depths (0 to 20 cm and 20 to 40 cm).

Results and discussion:

The ANOVA showed significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in physical and hydrological properties among land use scenarios; infiltrations decreased 40 to 70 % in agricultural systems with respect to forest use. For the depth factor, no differences were observed in the case of hydrological variables only in PWP and silt. Interaction was only significant for BD. Porosity, MRP, BD and clay defined the behavior of the hydrological variables.

Conclusions:

The change from forest to agricultural land use causes significant variations in the physical and hydrological properties of an Andosol soil. The infiltration process was the most affected.

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