The physical resilience of soil is the result of regenerative processes with cycles of wetting and drying, freezing and thawing, as well as of biological activities. This study tested the hypothesis that the physical properties of soil such as soil permeability, bulk density, aeration porosity, and total porosity are efficient physical indicators to quantify the resilience of soils with different textures exposed to mechanical stress (compression) and after subsequent wetting and drying cycles. The objective was to evaluate the behavior and soil resilience by means of physical properties of an Oxisol. Twenty-five undisturbed samples were taken (0.00-0.05 m) from two soils: a clayey soil and a soil with sandy clay loam texture, and the physical properties determined in the treatments: before compression (A), after compaction (C0) and after wetting and drying cycles (C1, C2, C3, C4). The properties bulk density and porosity did not return to the initial condition after compression in soil I and II, the volumetric content of water and air-filled porosity were only partially recovered in soil I, and soil permeability to air was the property with best recovery and resilience. Regarding the different behavior of the two soils, it was observed that soil I was more resilient than soil II in the properties with recovery.
soil air permeability; wetting and drying cycles; soil compaction
