Physico-chemical characterization of Oak, Pine and Sal forest soil profiles of Betalghat Region of Kumaun Himalaya

Abstract

Soil is one of the basic natural resources on which all forms of terrestrial life co-exist. Thesoils of three forest types i.e., banj-oak (Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus) chir-pine(Pinus roxburghii Sargent) and sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn. f.) of Betalghat block, NainitalDistrict, (Kumaun Himalaya). Soils were drawn from three depths viz. 0-10 cm, 11-20 cm,21-30 cm. The present study were studied resulted to soil physico-chemical properties i.e.maximum soil texture (sand 34.30 %, silt 57.21 % and clay 33.23 %), soil moisture (12.6%), bulk density (1.43 g.cm-3), porosity (52.06%), water holding capacity (69.27%) andthe maximum values of chemical analysis i.e. pH (6.80), total carbon (3.82 %), organicmatter (6.57 %), total nitrogen (0.36 %), available potassium (267 mg/kg) and availablephosphorous (62 mg/kg). Banj-oak forest shows rich physical properties followed by saland chir-pine forest while chir-pine forest shows rich chemical properties in compared tosal and banj-oak forest.