Table 1.

Studies reporting effects of plant age on infiltration rate or saturated hydraulic conductivity

SpeciesSoil type and preparationPlant ageEffect on infiltration rate or saturated conductivity, as compared with fallow soilReference
Wheat (Triticum aestivum)Sandy loam and loamy sand soils, repacked to bulk density of 15·2 kN/m3Wheat (living plants, single time-point)Dispersion of solute used to infer degree of bypass flow:
< fallow soil for live plants
Gish & Jury (1983) 
Wheat (after 1·5 years’ decomposition)> fallow soil for decomposed plants
Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) and red maple (Acer rubrum)Field soil – variable deposits from sand to clayNatural wetland riparian vegetation, indeterminate ages (plant age not a variable)Evidence of bypass flow from tracer experiments, with bypass flow up to 152 times that of matrix, substantially along dead root channelsElci & Molz (2009) 
White alder (Alnus incana)Poorly graded sand and silty sand, repacked to dry density of 16 kN/m31, 2, 4 and 8 monthsIncreased with plant age during 2 months of growth, followed by stabilisation at 4 months old and a subsequent decrease at 8 months oldVergani & Graf (2015) 
Scots pine trees (Pinus sylvestris)Field soil – various peaty podzolsScots pine had grown for 6, 48, 300 or >1000 years on these sites. Single time-point measurementsIncreased with forest age by between one and two orders of magnitudeArcher et al. (2015) 
Vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides)Low-plasticity silt, repacked to dry density of 13·1 kN/m34–10 months> fallow soil when root biomass per soil volume is less than ∼6 kg/m3Jotisankasa & Sirirattanachat (2017) 
< fallow soil when root biomass per soil volume is higher than ∼6 kg/m3
Clayey sand, repacked to dry density of 14 kN/m3< fallow soil when root biomass per soil volume is less than ∼6 kg/m3
Similar to fallow soil when root biomass per soil volume is higher than ∼6 kg/m3

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