Journals / EURASIAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE / 2018 / Cilt: 7 - Sayı: 2
Soil physico-chemical properties and fertility status of longterm land use and cover changes: A case study in Forest vegetative zone of Nigeria
- Pages
- 133–150
- DOI
- —
Abstract
Proper utilization of land is essential to soil quality maintenance and sustainableagricultural development. This study was conducted to evaluate effects of land usemanagement on physico-chemical characteristics of soils in Ekiti State, SouthwesternNigeria. In this study, a total of 105 sampling points in 35 locations comprising of the 3land uses were sampled. Random sampling pattern of 3 sampling points per location werecarried out and undisturbed soil samples were collected at depths up to 30 cm. Soilphysical properties (bulk density (BD), water holding capacity (WHC), and particle sizedistribution) and chemical properties (organic matter content (SOM), cation exchangecapacity (CEC), phosphorus (P) and organic nitrogen (SON)), were determined andevaluated. Results showed that natural forest on the overall accumulated more nutrientsthan plantations and cropland. The highest SOM value of 4.07 % was recorded in thenatural forests, while the lowest value of 1.52 % was found in the croplands. Organicmatter accumulation showed a decreasing trend in the order: forest > plantation >cropland. Natural forest soils had significantly higher volumetric moisture content (VMC)than plantations and croplands. Correlation analysis of the 11 physico-chemicalproperties for the study area, showed a significant correlation among 70 of the 190 soilattribute pairs. Land use system reveals a significant decline of soil quality undercropland. Management systems by which soil could be improved towards thedevelopment of suitable agricultural management systems must be incorporated duringland cultivation. In order to have sustainable land use systems, land use developmentmust not be only economically sustainable but also socially acceptable andenvironmentally sound. Therefore, strategies to improve agricultural productivity have toseek a sustainable solution that better addresses soil fertility management.