Effect of biowaste compost and nitrogen fertilization on water properties of Mollic-gleyic Fluvisol**

A b s t r a c t. The effect of biowaste compost and nitrogen fertilization on the soil water properties was tested in a long-term crop rotation experiment established in 1992 on a silty loam Mollic-gleyic Fluvisol in eastern Austria in the field trial different biowaste compost and mineral fertilizers were applied. Results were compared also with an untreated control. Soil samples were collected in 2005 and the water retention, saturated hydraulic conductivity and characteristics of pores were determined. Based on the water retention characteristics the pore-size distribution was established. The dominant pore fraction consisted of storage (0.5-50 µm) and transmission (50-500 µm) pores, having a total volume of more than 0.1 cm 3 cm -3 . Fertilization was found not to influence the amount of storage pores, and did not produce any differences in available and productive water retention. The main conclusion of this study is that long-term application of compost and nitrogen fertilizers did not have any significant influence on bulk density, water retention, pore-size distribution and the saturated hydraulic conductivity. K e y w o r d s: biowaste compost, nitrogen fertilization, Mollic-gleyic Fluvisol, pore-size distribution, water retention, hydraulic conductivity