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Saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_s) influences water storage and movement, and is a key parameter of water and solute transport models. Systematic field evaluation of K_s and its spatial variability for recently constructed artificial ecosystems is still lacking. The objectives of the present study were; (1) to determine saturated hydraulic conductivity of an artificial ecosystem using field methods (Philip–Dunne, and Guelph permeameters), and compare their results to the constant-head laboratory method; (2) to evaluate the spatial variability of K_s using univariate and geostatistical analyses, and (3) to evaluate the ability of five pedotransfer functions to predict K_s. The results showed that K_s varied significantly (p<0.05) among methods, probably reflecting differences in scales of measurement, flow geometry, assumptions in computation routines and inherent disturbances during sampling. Mean K_s values were very high …