For a long time it has been accepted that tropical soils, specially oxisols, have excellent physical characteristics, that they are permeables, with high infiltration and drainage rates. However, we have to accept today that tropical soils are very susceptible to degradation by human intervention, especially by the use of intensive and tillage and by rainfall erosivity. Knowing by experience, that soils of the Eastern plains of Colombia are very susceptible to physical degradation, a study to identify the properties that are more vulnerable to use of machinery has been started to try to establish some indicators of degradation. One of the parameters that reflect the actual condition of soils and that is sensible to changes is infiltration, which is really low in the soils that have been studied even under native savanna. This means that they have a low rainfall acceptance capacity and that could behave as "dry soils" under wet clime. The values of infiltration rate found varied from 3 to 15 mm/h for different conditions of use and management systems when it was determined even at different depths | Edgar Amézquita Collazos, H Londoño, 'La infiltración del agua en algunos suelos de los Llanos Orientales y sus implicaciones en su uso y manejo', Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), 2016

For a long time it has been accepted that tropical soils, specially oxisols, have excellent physical characteristics, that they are permeables, with high infiltration and drainage rates. However, we have to accept today that tropical soils are very susceptible to degradation by human intervention, especially by the use of intensive and tillage and by rainfall erosivity. Knowing by experience, that soils of the Eastern plains of Colombia are very susceptible to physical degradation, a study to identify the properties that are more vulnerable to use of machinery has been started to try to establish some indicators of degradation. One of the parameters that reflect the actual condition of soils and that is sensible to changes is infiltration, which is really low in the soils that have been studied even under native savanna. This means that they have a low rainfall acceptance capacity and that could behave as "dry soils" under wet clime. The values of infiltration rate found varied from 3 to 15 mm/h for different conditions of use and management systems when it was determined even at different depths.

For a long time it has been accepted that tropical soils, specially oxisols, have excellent physical characteristics, that they are permeables, with high infiltration and drainage rates. However, we have to accept today that tropical soils are very susceptible to degradation by human intervention, especially by the use of intensive and tillage and by rainfall erosivity. Knowing by experience, that soils of the Eastern plains of Colombia are very susceptible to physical degradation, a study to identify the properties that are more vulnerable to use of machinery has been started to try to establish some indicators of degradation. One of the parameters that reflect the actual condition of soils and that is sensible to changes is infiltration, which is really low in the soils that have been studied even under native savanna. This means that they have a low rainfall acceptance capacity and that could behave as "dry soils" under wet clime. The values of infiltration rate found varied from 3 to 15 mm/h for different conditions of use and management systems when it was determined even at different depths. | A traves del tiempo se ha predicado que los oxisoles presentan excelentes caracteristicas fisicas, que son suelos permeables, de alta capacidad de infiltracion, presentando por lo tanto buen drenaje interno; sin embargo, hoy es necesario aceptar que ellos son muy sensibles a perder muchas de esas caracteristicas cuando se intervienen con implementos agricolas; por lo tanto su manejo debe considerar su susceptibilidad a degradacion fisica. Conscientes de que es necesario profundizar en el conocimiento del comportamiento fisico de los suelos de los Llanos Orientales en funcion de uso, se ha iniciado un estudio para establecer las propiedades fisicas mas sensibles a las acciones de la maquinaria. Dentro de estas, llama la atencion la baja capacidad de infiltracion basica que en general presentan los suelos, lo cual esta indicando que tienen baja capacidad de "aceptancia de lluvias", y que por lo tanto se produce gran cantidad de escorrentia superficial indicativa de la dominancia de drenaje superficial. En terminos de balance hidrico equivaldria a concluir que se puede estar en una situacion de suelos "secos" dentro de un clima humedo. En el trabajo se presentaran algunos datos de infiltracion para diferentes sistemas de uso del suelo y se relacionaran con las precipitaciones. Estos primeros analisis permiten concluir que se debe hacer un estudio especifico sobre aceptancia de lluvias en los Llanos bajo condiciones intervenidas y no intervenidas.