3.2 Soil physical quality indexes
Soil particle distribution varies across the study site, but they were dominantly coarse-textured ranging from sandy loam and loamy sand for both grazing conditions (S. Material 2). Sand contents vary from 65 to 90%, with very little clay content in most cases (<5 %).
None of the soil physical properties showed an interaction among factors; therefore, each factor was analyzed independently. The infiltration rate (K) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) were significantly different between the CG condition and the OG condition (Table I).
Most soil physical variables showed a significant difference between the bare soil and the under canopy conditions, except for porosity and water holding capacity (WHC). Bulk density was significantly lower in the under-canopy condition and both saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. Additionally, the under-canopy condition showed much more stables aggregates than in the bare-soil condition