## 1 Introduction  
Soil physical-hydraulic properties (SHPs), especially of the surface layers, have a relevant influence on many hydrological processes such as infiltration, water retention capacity, surface runoff, water erosion and recharge of aquifers [1]. Therefore, knowledge of the factors influencing the variability of SHP is crucial for the proper management of the soil and water resources from the field to the catchment scale. SHPs mainly depend on particle and pore size distribution and bulk density (\(\rho_{d}\)) [2]. These characteristics are, in turn, the result of intrinsic (natural) and extrinsic (anthropogenic) factors and the way they interact [3]. Intrinsic factors include texture, organic matter, carbonate content and mineralogy. Anthropogenic factors, limited to agroecosystems, include tillage, crop rotation, grazing and other specific practices such as the burial (or removal) of crop residues or the use of cover crops [4]. Tillage, which varies in its modality and frequency, is undoubtedly one of the most conditioning activities, not only for the direct alteration of the soil structure but also for its indirect effect on the carbon balance. High contents of soil organic carbon (SOC), which are associated with the presence of stable aggregates, imply a reduction of \(\rho_{\text{d}}\), higher values of saturated hydraulic conductivity (K\({}_{\text{S}}\)) and improvements in soil water retention capacity [5]. Various studies have analysed SHP changes in soils subjected to different tillage methods [6; 7; 8]. In the short term, significant increases in K\({}_{\text{S}}\) and porosity are found in conventionally tilted soils compared to those subjected to minimum tillage or untilled. On the other hand, differences in hydraulic properties tend to become insignificant a few months after the last tillage, even when comparing treatments such as conventional and untilled [6; 9]. However, soils treated with minimum tillage or untilled are less prone than those treated with conventional tillage to surface crust formation [10] and can lead to progressive increases in SOC [11]. The practice of burying crop residues can lead to an improvement in soil structure and, thus, in SHP, according to two main mechanisms [12]; the increase in aggregate stability is due to the organic matter contributed by the residues and the reduction in \(\rho_{\text{d}}\) (residues being much less dense than the mineral component of the soil). The extent of these effects is primarily regulated by the type of crop rotation (i.e., type and number of different species involved in the rotation), which directly affects the quantity and quality of the residues buried and their decomposition rate. For example, [PERSON] et al. [13], in a study on the impact of management on mollusols of north-eastern China, show that the type of crop rotation influences SOC contents and aggregate stability and that continuous cropping (specifically maize) results in a lower accumulation of SOC and less stable soil aggregate compared to more variable cropping systems. Other factors, all interacting, that influence the effect of residues on SHP are soil characteristics, climate and the type of tillage. This complexity results in a still uncertain picture that requires further investigation under different experimental conditions [11; 12]. In this work, the BEST (Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters) method [14], was used for the hydraulic characterisation of clay-loam soils from some Long-term Agroe-cosystem Experiments (LTAEs) variable for crop rotations, residue management methods, tillage operations and agrochemical inputs. The BEST method is widely used [15] due to its simplicity, robustness, accuracy and versatility of application since it enables the estimate of soil hydraulic proprieties (water retention curve and hydraulic conductivity function) based on simple field infiltration measurements, information on the soil particle-size distribution and a few physical parameters.