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Information - SSS8 Soil water repellency: origin, environmental controls and hydrological impacts (co-listed in GM & HS)
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Event Information |
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Soil water repellency (hydrophobicity) is now widely recognised as a common property of soils under a wide range of climates and land uses, when soils are dry or moderately moist. Depending on its intensity and spatial distribution, its effects can range from being detectable only using specialist equipment to severely limiting seed germination and plant growth, increasing runoff and erosion responses and accelerating nutrient and contaminant fluxes through the soil via enhanced preferential flow. Apart from these environmentally often detrimental effects, repellency is thought to be an important factor, for example, in the formation of soil structure by biota.
Given the large diversity of factors affecting the presence of soil water repellency as well as its broad range of implications, related research has been carried out by scientists in an unusually wide variety of fields. As a result, many of the major advances made in understanding soil water repellency have arisen from ideas and collaboration between workers in diverse disciplines.
Despite recent significant advances, there has been no major international meeting in this field for a number of years. This session therefore aims to provide the opportunity for broad international scientific exchange and cross-fertilisation in key aspects of soil water repellency relating to its origin and environmental impacts. Contributions are particularly welcome relating to (i) the physical, chemical and biological factors affecting its presence and (ii) the hydrological impacts and implications of soil water repellency at various spatial and temporal scales.
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