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Soil water retention is essential to life. It provides an ongoing supply of water to plants between periods of replenishment (infiltration), so as to allow their continued growth and survival.
Soil water retention is usually described by the water content at field capacity (FC; pressure head −33kPa), permanent wilting point (pressure head −1500kPa) with their difference referred to as available water content (AWC) for plants. From: Biochar in Agriculture for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals, 2022
The soil water retention curve is the relationship between soil water content and matric potential. Understanding this relationship is crucial to understanding processes such as soil water storage, water flow, and plant water uptake.
The texture of soil, including its composition of sand, silt, and clay, affects water retention and drainage capabilities differently. Sandy soils drain quickly but have low water-holding capacity, while clay soils retain water tightly but have slower drainage.
Water remains in the soil even below plants’ wilting point. One can see from the table that soil texture greatly influences water availability. The sandy soil can quickly be recharged with soil moisture but is unable to hold as much water as the soils with heavier textures.
Improving water retention in soils begins with understanding the soil type found in the garden. Soils are generally made up of varying mixtures of three sizes of soil particles; sand, silt and clay, known as soil texture. Generally, water retention is inversely related to permeability.
A soil water characteristics curve, also known as soil water retention curve, graphically displays the relationship between VWC and SMP for a particular soil type. This curve can be used for converting VWC values to SMP and vice versa.
History. In 1907, Edgar Buckingham created the first water retention curve. [2] . It was measured and made for six soils varying in texture from sand to clay. The data came from experiments made on soil columns 48 inch tall, where a constant water level maintained about 2 inches above the bottom through periodic addition of water from a side tube.
Water holding capacity (WHC) is defined as the amount of water that absorbed per gram of protein, or the protein’s ability to retain water against gravity, which can affect the texture, juiciness, and shelf life of the food products.
"Each 1 percent increase in soil organic matter helps soil hold 20,000 gallons more water per acre." But NRDC's soil team wanted to learn more about how this works, and under what...