Soil physicochemical properties and moisture dynamics of a large soil profile in a tropical monsoon forest

Evergreen forests in tropical monsoon Asia experience a severe dry season lasting several months. Deep soil moisture is responsible for evergreen forest transpiration during this season. This study provides preliminary information on soil physicochemical properties in a large soil profile (800cm deep) and evaluated the influences of deep-soil moisture dynamics on the transpiration of evergreen forests in Cambodia using a water flow model. In general, changes in soil physicochemical properties with depth were small, excluding topsoil. The soil texture in the large soil profile was characterized by very little gravel and a large sand fraction. The soil carbon stock was 71.7 and 130.1Mg Cha−1 at depths of 0–150 and 0–800cm, respectively. The coarse pore volume (−100≤ψ