The Effects of Landuse on the Infiltration Capacity of Coastal Plain Soils of Calabar– Nigeria
Akintoye, Oluyemi Ayorinde; Ukata, Samuel Uka; Esomonye, Henry Ifeanyi

Abstract
The effects of different landuses, viz forest, farmland and grassland were evaluated in coastal plain soils prone to shearing, erosion and leaching. Infiltration was measured under field conditions using cylinder infiltrometers (Hills, 1970) in rainy season. Equilibrium infiltration rate was reached on each landuse after (180mins). The values obtained were 17.4, 12.0 and 9.6 (cm/hrs-1) for forest, grassland and farmland respectively. Soil samples analysed revealed mean values of 84.9, 8.8 and 6.3 percent for sand, silt and clay. The preponderance of sand fractions in soils was found to be responsible for poor water retention capacity of affected soils. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) values estimated indicated a sharp decline in clay deposits in soils layers which naturally stabilizes water movement into soil profile. Conservation measures involving mulching, liming, cover cropping and afforestation to improve soil structure and infiltration capacity are recommended.

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