Water repellence of soils: new insights and emerging research needs

An increasing awareness of the occurrence and implications of soil water repellence has caused a surge in research activity addressing this phenomenon in recent years. This has involved not only the disciplines of hydrology, soil, and related environmental sciences, but increasingly also biology, chemistry, physics, and surface sciences, which has allowed elucidation of the causes and behaviour of soil water repellence based on first order principles. Furthermore, novel approaches and advances in technology have allowed examination of its causes and implications at increasingly coarse and fine spatial and temporal scales. The 19 papers presented in this special issue exemplify this trend by bringing together studies from diverse disciplines and presenting the latest advances regarding the origin, occurrence, controls, hydrological effects, and amelioration of soil water repellence. Here we aim to summarize, evaluate and set into context some of the new insights arising from these studies and also attempt to identify the key current and likely future research gaps related to water repellence in soils