**5. Influence of management systems on the movement of water and solutes: effects of the soil compaction**

The use of practices, techniques, and treatments to improve soil functionality is known as soil management. Soil management should maintain soil health in favorable conditions to sustain soil functions [64]. The impacts caused by soil use and management can alter and change the hydraulic properties of the soil due to changes in soil structure [65].

The flow of water and solutes is influenced by soil structure, which can vary depending on the type of agricultural management, that is, conventional tillage, no-tillage, crop rotation, cover crops, and others. Soil conservation practices have numerous benefits (e.g., increasing soil resistance to erosive processes, promoting

#### *Movement of Water and Solutes in Agricultural Soils DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.114086*

soil quality, and increasing soil aggregation, porosity, water retention, and water infiltration) [66]. These management practices help to maintain long-term soil productivity, which is essential for successful crop production and environmental protection. During the soil compaction processes, the stress applied to the soil results in an increase in the soil bulk density as air is forced out of the pores between the soil particles. In other words, soil pores, particularly macropores, are disrupted and the surface aggregates are degraded, which is referred to as soil compaction [67]. Therefore, machinery traffic can cause disturbances in the soil aeration, water retention, and water conduction by reducing soil pore volume and pore size distribution [68]. Compaction typically occurs when large machinery compacts the soil, but it can also occur when animals walk through the area. As a result, runoff and erosion increase, while the capacity of the affected soil to absorb raindrops decreases.

The use of cover crops and the increasing of SOM as a function of soil management is essential to protect the soil surface from the direct impact of rain drop [69]. The ability of soil to support life and maintain environmental sustainability depends on soil structure [70]. The soil structure is a result of aggregation processes of the soil particles and the arrangement of pore space between aggregates [71]. Soil aggregation is a consequence of several processes mainly influenced by soil inherent attributes (e.g., amounts of sand, silt, and clay particles and soil mineralogy) and dynamic attributes (e.g., amounts of binding agents such as carbonates, soil organic matter, and biological activity). Thus, soil aggregation is a result of chemical, physical, and biological soil interactions.
