Time-varying soil water potential at different depths of soil under grassed and deciduous hillslopes

Even though vegetation are well recognized by their effects on hillslope hydrology and stability state, the hydrological effect of different types of forest covers are yet to be quantified. To address this gap, two adjacent hillslopes with different vegetation cover (a deciduous forest and a grass cover) were selected. The random-systematic method was used to determine nine sampling points on each hillslope. A PR2/6 profile probe was then used to monitor the soil water content at different depths of soil during the growing season of 2015. A soil water retention curve (SWRC) was made for each soil depth to facilitate the estimation of the equivalent matric suction of the monitored soil water content. Based on the results, the value of soil matric suction tends to be significantly higher in deciduous hillslope than the grassed hillslope (P