Impacts of Land use on Selected Physicochemical Properties of Soils of Gindeberet Area, Western Oromia, Ethiopia
Journal Title: STAR Journal - Year 2014, Vol 3, Issue 4
Abstract
This study was carried out with the objective of determining impact of land uses on selected soil physicochemical properties of Gindeberet area, Western Ethiopia. Disturbed and undisturbed surface soil samples (0-20 cm) were collected from each land use type and examined for their analysis of soils physicochemical properties. Soil samples were analyzed at Ambo University Chemistry Laboratory. Standard procedures were employed for the analyses of selected soil properties. Soil pH ranged from 4.88 (cultivated land) to 5.65 (forest land). Soil bulk density was ranged from 1.09 (forest land) to 1.28 (g/cm3) (cultivated lands). Mean organic matter ranged from 1.38 (cultivated land) to 2.01% (forest land). Mean soil available phosphorus ranged from 2.23 (cultivated land) 4.30ppm (forest land). Mean total nitrogen ranged from 0.08% (cultivated land) to 0.11% (forest land). Mean soil exchangeable calcium and magnesium ranged from 8.16(cultivated land) to 13.44 cmol(+)/ kg (forest land) and 3.54(cultivated land) to 5.33 cmol(+)/ kg (forest land) respectively, while mean soil exchangeable potassium and sodium ranged from 0.28 (cultivated land) to 0.71 cmol(+)/ kg (forest land) and 0.36(cultivated land) to 0.75 cmol(+)/ kg (forest land) respectively. The CEC ranged from 7.63 (cultivated land) to 16.53 cmol(+)/ kg (forest land).Mean available iron, manganese, zinc and copper ranges from 37.08 to 37.71, 22.18 to 37.70, 4.79 to 6.39 and 1.88 to 2.49 respectively. All available micronutrients are higher in forest land and lower in cultivated land. The study pointed out that, the difference between different land use type on soil moisture content, pH, cation exchange capacity, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and exchangeable bases. From the present study, it could be concluded that the soil quality and health were maintained relatively under the forest land, whereas the influence on most soil parameters were negative on the cultivated land, indicating the need for employing integrated soil fertility management in sustainable manner to optimize and maintain the favorable soil physicochemical properties.
Authors and Affiliations
Lechisa Takele| Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Ambo University, PO Box: 19, Ambo, Ethiopia, Achalu Chimdi| College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Wollega University, P.O Box: 395, Nekemte, Ethiopia, Alemayehu Abebaw| Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Ambo University, PO Box: 19, Ambo, Ethiopia
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP9711
- DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/star.v3i4.5
- Views 331
- Downloads 16
Feed Resources and Livestock Production Situation in the Highland and Mid Altitude Areas of Horro and Guduru Districts of Oromia Regional State, Western Ethiopia
No Abstract
Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Potential of Streptomyces sp. RAMPP- 065 isolated from Kudremukh soil, Karnataka, India
Actinomycetes are among the industrially and therapeutically relevant microorganisms and are known to produce useful products such as antibiotics, enzymes, vitamins etc. Among actinomycetes, genus Streptomyces is known...
Experimentation and Prediction of Temperature Rise in Turning Process using Response Surface Methodology
Reducing the temperature rise during turning operation improves the quality of the product and reduces tool wear. Experiments are conducted as per the Design of Experiments (DoE) of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) t...
Rural Household Poverty and Vulnerability to Poverty in Oromiya, Ethiopia
This study is based on secondary data from HICES and WMS 2004/05 collected by CSA. The study has tried to examine the extent of poverty and vulnerability of households in rural Oromiya. It further looks through the deter...
Amalgamation of Personal Software Process in Software Development Practice
Today, concern for quality has become an international movement. Even though most industrial organizations have now adopted modern quality principles, the software community has continued to rely on testing as the pri...