The influence of recreation use on water infiltration rate at urban park: a case study at Bukit Ekspo, Universiti Putra Malaysia

Urban Park is commonly used for recreation activities. However, recreational activity can influence water infiltration rate of a park. Infiltration is a process of water entering soil and is important as soil acts as a medium for the tree growth, root water uptake and habitat for organisms. Therefore, this research aimed to look at the water infiltration rate at a park and compare the infiltration rate among four sites with different recreational activities. This study was conducted at Bukit Ekspo, Universiti Putra Malaysia located in Serdang Selangor. The research was carried out by using double ring infiltrometer for water infiltration rate measurement at four sites (i.e. football field, an area beside a lake and road as well as a non-activity area), with three sampling points in each site. The result showed that the infiltration rate was greater in roadside area compared to the non-activity area. Therefore, infiltration rate in non-activity area was greater than football and beside lake area due to recreational impact on the soil as these two sites were highly used by user. This shows that recreational activities can affect the soil for example by increasing the soil compaction that will reduced water infiltration rate. This study suggests rehabilitation of the soil surface by planting and managing new trees or grasses regularly because recreational activities can reduce the infiltration rate at Bukit Ekspo Universiti Putra Malaysia. The findings from this research will be beneficial for the management of this park in improving the water infiltration especially at areas with high recreational activities.

Text FH 2018 41 IR.pdf Download (1MB)

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