Development of soil hydraulic properties below grassland, ancient forest and plantation forests

Woodlands in particular have the potential to alleviate flooding by delaying the downstream passage of flood flows, reducing the volume of runoff through interception (Calder et al. 2003) and promoting rainfall infiltration into the soil (Thomas & Nisbet, 2006). The natural processes which occur below ground to enable a change in hydraulic pathways and storage are complex and are dependent not only on geology, but also on landuse. We focus this study on below-ground changes that influence soil water characteristics, such as soil hydraulic conductivity, soil water retention and soil structure, which are all important in understanding how the planting of trees can mitigate localised flooding.