Assessing the Infiltrability of Gravelly Soils Under and Between the Orange and Olive Trees in Fasa City

In this study, five infiltration models including Kostiakov, Kostiakov-Lewis, Philip, Soil Conservation Service (SCS) and Horton were fitted to the experimental data using the double rings, and the empirical coefficients of these models were determined. Infiltration experiments were conducted in the gravelly sandy loam soil under and between the olive and orange trees in Fasa city, Fars Province, Iran. The results showed that all five models were fitted accurately to the measured data. The accumulated infiltration under the trees was higher than those measured between two trees. Higher infiltration under the tree canopies was probably due to the higher soil organic matter, the lower soil bulk density, and the tree root channeling, which were more pronounced when compared to the small pores in these soils. Despite the positive effect of sand particles on soil infiltration, the big gravel occurrence in soil would decrease the cross section area of water flow path, thereby reducing the infiltration. Therefore, changing the land use and planting olive and orange trees in the gravel soils would increase the infiltration rate and consequently, decrease runoff and erosion rates in such soils.