[Sizes of soil macropores and related main affecting factors on a vegetated basalt slope]

The landslide on vegetated slopes caused by extreme weather has being increased steadily, and the preferential flow in soil macropores plays an important role in the landslide. By using water breakthrough curve and Poiseuille equation, this paper estimated the radius range, amount, and average volume of soil macropores on a vegetated basalt slope of Maka Mountain, Southwest China, and analyzed the distribution of the soil macropores and the main affecting factors. In the study area, the radius of soil macropores ranged from 0.3 to 1.8 mm, mainly between 0.5 and 1.2 mm. The large-radius macropores (1.4-1.8 mm) were lesser, while the small-radius macropores (< 1.4 mm) were more. With the development of soil profile, soil macropores were more in upper layers and lesser in deeper layers. The average volume of the macropores contributed 84.7% to the variance of steady effluent rate. Among the factors affecting the average volume of the large macropores, vegetations root mass had a linear relationship, with the correlation coefficient being 0.70, and soil organic matter content also had a linear relationship, with the correlation coefficient being 0.64.