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Impacts of Land Use on Selected Physicochemical Properties of Soils of Abobo Area, Western Ethiopia

Received: 26 July 2013     Published: 10 September 2013
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Abstract

Assessing land use-induced changes in soil properties are essential for addressing issues of agro-ecosystem transformation and sustainable land productivity. In view of this, a study was conducted to assess the impact of land use/land cover on the physicochemical properties of soils of Abobo area, western Ethiopia. Three adjacent land use types, namely forest, grazing and cultivated lands each falling under four land mapping units (1Ac, 1Bc, 2Cc and 3Cl) were considered for the study. A total of 40 random soil samples (0-20 cm depth) were collected to make three composite samples for each land use type across the land mapping units and analyzed for selected soil physical and chemical properties. The results of the study, on one hand, revealed that soil OM, total N, CEC, PBS and available micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) contents of the cultivated land was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than the adjacent forest land. For instance, soil OM, total N, CEC, PBS, exchangeable Mg and available micronutrients (Mn, Zn and Cu) contents of cultivated land was significantly lower than the adjacent forest land by 32.98, 33.33, 16.16, 17.81, 21.88, 29.47, 40.05 and 53.92%, respectively. On the other hand, the results of the study revealed that exchangeable cations (Mg, K and Na), PBS and available micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) contents of the gazing land was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than the adjacent forest land. However, significant differences were not observed between the forests and grazing lands in soil OM, total N, CEC and available P. From the present study, it could be concluded that the soil quality and health were maintained relatively under the forest, whereas the influence on most parameters were negative on the soils of the cultivated land, indicating the need for employing integrated soil fertility management in sustainable manner to optimize and maintain the favorable soil physicochemical properties.

Published in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 2, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.aff.20130205.11
Page(s) 177-183
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Land Use, Physicochemical Property, Soil Quality

References
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  • APA Style

    Teshome Yitbarek, Heluf Gebrekidan, Kibebew Kibret, Shelem Beyene. (2013). Impacts of Land Use on Selected Physicochemical Properties of Soils of Abobo Area, Western Ethiopia. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 2(5), 177-183. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20130205.11

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    ACS Style

    Teshome Yitbarek; Heluf Gebrekidan; Kibebew Kibret; Shelem Beyene. Impacts of Land Use on Selected Physicochemical Properties of Soils of Abobo Area, Western Ethiopia. Agric. For. Fish. 2013, 2(5), 177-183. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20130205.11

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    AMA Style

    Teshome Yitbarek, Heluf Gebrekidan, Kibebew Kibret, Shelem Beyene. Impacts of Land Use on Selected Physicochemical Properties of Soils of Abobo Area, Western Ethiopia. Agric For Fish. 2013;2(5):177-183. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20130205.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.aff.20130205.11,
      author = {Teshome Yitbarek and Heluf Gebrekidan and Kibebew Kibret and Shelem Beyene},
      title = {Impacts of Land Use on Selected Physicochemical Properties of Soils of Abobo Area, Western Ethiopia},
      journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
      volume = {2},
      number = {5},
      pages = {177-183},
      doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20130205.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20130205.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20130205.11},
      abstract = {Assessing land use-induced changes in soil properties are essential for addressing issues of agro-ecosystem transformation and sustainable land productivity. In view of this, a study was conducted to assess the impact of land use/land cover on the physicochemical properties of soils of Abobo area, western Ethiopia. Three adjacent land use types, namely forest, grazing and cultivated lands each falling under four land mapping units (1Ac, 1Bc, 2Cc and 3Cl) were considered for the study. A total of 40 random soil samples (0-20 cm depth) were collected to make three composite samples for each land use type across the land mapping units and analyzed for selected soil physical and chemical properties. The results of the study, on one hand, revealed that soil OM, total N, CEC, PBS and available micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) contents of the cultivated land was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than the adjacent forest land. For instance, soil OM, total N, CEC, PBS, exchangeable Mg and available micronutrients (Mn, Zn and Cu) contents of cultivated land was significantly lower than the adjacent forest land by 32.98, 33.33, 16.16, 17.81, 21.88, 29.47, 40.05 and 53.92%, respectively. On the other hand, the results of the study revealed that exchangeable cations (Mg, K and Na), PBS and available micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) contents of the gazing land was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than the adjacent forest land. However, significant differences were not observed between the forests and grazing lands in soil OM, total N, CEC and available P. From the present study, it could be concluded that the soil quality and health were maintained relatively under the forest, whereas the influence on most parameters were negative on the soils of the cultivated land, indicating the need for employing integrated soil fertility management in sustainable manner to optimize and maintain the favorable soil physicochemical properties.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Impacts of Land Use on Selected Physicochemical Properties of Soils of Abobo Area, Western Ethiopia
    AU  - Teshome Yitbarek
    AU  - Heluf Gebrekidan
    AU  - Kibebew Kibret
    AU  - Shelem Beyene
    Y1  - 2013/09/10
    PY  - 2013
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20130205.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.aff.20130205.11
    T2  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JF  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JO  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    SP  - 177
    EP  - 183
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5648
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20130205.11
    AB  - Assessing land use-induced changes in soil properties are essential for addressing issues of agro-ecosystem transformation and sustainable land productivity. In view of this, a study was conducted to assess the impact of land use/land cover on the physicochemical properties of soils of Abobo area, western Ethiopia. Three adjacent land use types, namely forest, grazing and cultivated lands each falling under four land mapping units (1Ac, 1Bc, 2Cc and 3Cl) were considered for the study. A total of 40 random soil samples (0-20 cm depth) were collected to make three composite samples for each land use type across the land mapping units and analyzed for selected soil physical and chemical properties. The results of the study, on one hand, revealed that soil OM, total N, CEC, PBS and available micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) contents of the cultivated land was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than the adjacent forest land. For instance, soil OM, total N, CEC, PBS, exchangeable Mg and available micronutrients (Mn, Zn and Cu) contents of cultivated land was significantly lower than the adjacent forest land by 32.98, 33.33, 16.16, 17.81, 21.88, 29.47, 40.05 and 53.92%, respectively. On the other hand, the results of the study revealed that exchangeable cations (Mg, K and Na), PBS and available micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) contents of the gazing land was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than the adjacent forest land. However, significant differences were not observed between the forests and grazing lands in soil OM, total N, CEC and available P. From the present study, it could be concluded that the soil quality and health were maintained relatively under the forest, whereas the influence on most parameters were negative on the soils of the cultivated land, indicating the need for employing integrated soil fertility management in sustainable manner to optimize and maintain the favorable soil physicochemical properties.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • School of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Haramaya University, P. O. Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

  • School of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Haramaya University, P. O. Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

  • School of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Haramaya University, P. O. Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

  • Department of Plant and Horticultural Science, College of Agriculture, Hawassa University, P. O. Box 05, Hawassa, Ethiopia

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