Response of Potential Indicators of Soil Quality to Land-Use and Land-Cover Change under a Mediterranean Climate in the Region of Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, Libya

Conversion of native lands into agricultural use, coupled with poor land management practices, generally leads to changes in soil properties. Understanding the undesirable effects of land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes on soil properties is essential when planning for sustainable land management. This study was conducted in Al Jabal Al Akhdar region, Libya, to assess the effects of land-use and land-cover changes on soil quality inferred by analyzing the relative changes in 17 chemical, physical, and biological soil properties in the upper layer (0–20 cm) of disturbed and undisturbed soil systems. Soil samples were collected from 180 sampling sites with 60 from each of the three types of LULC prevalent in the study area: natural Mediterranean forests (NMF), rainfed agriculture (RA), and irrigated crops (IC). The soil properties of the two agricultural land uses were compared with soil properties under an adjacent natural forest, which served as a control to assess changes in soil quality resulting from the cultivation of deforested land. The results indicate significant reductions in most soil quality indicators under rainfed agriculture as compared to native forest land. Under irrigated agriculture, there were significant changes (p ≤ 0.05) in most of the soil quality indicators, generally, indicating a significant reduction in soil quality, except for improvement of nitrogen and phosphorus levels due to frequent fertilizer application. Our data support the notion that changes in land use and land cover, in the absence of sustainable management measures, induce deterioration of soil properties and ultimately may lead to land degradation and productivity decline.

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Effects of land use and land cover on selected soil quality indicators in the headwater area of the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ◽

10.1007/s10661-015-5086-1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 188 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Ermias Teferi ◽

Woldeamlak Bewket ◽

Belay Simane

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Cover ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Indicators ◽

Soil Quality Indicators ◽

Nile Basin ◽

Blue Nile ◽

Blue Nile Basin ◽

Effects Of Land Use

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Effects of Land Use Change on Soil Quality Indicators in Forest Landscapes of the Western Amazon

Soil Science ◽

10.1097/ss.0000000000000203 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 182 (4) ◽

pp. 128-136 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Santiago Bonilla-Bedoya ◽

Magdalena López-Ulloa ◽

Tom Vanwalleghem ◽

Miguel Ángel Herrera-Machuca

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Indicators ◽

Soil Quality Indicators ◽

Effects Of Land Use

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Soil textural class plays a major role in evaluating the effects of land use on soil quality indicators

Ecological Indicators ◽

10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.11.020 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 74 ◽

pp. 182-190 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Isabel C. Vinhal-Freitas ◽

Gilberto F. Corrêa ◽

Beno Wendling ◽

Lenka Bobuľská ◽

Adão S. Ferreira

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Indicators ◽

Soil Quality Indicators ◽

Effects Of Land Use

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Sedentary Agriculture and Its Implications on Soil Quality in Agro-pastoral Semi-arid Karamoja, Uganda

Journal of Agricultural Science ◽

10.5539/jas.v12n4p148 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 148

Author(s):

S. Muwanga ◽

R. Onwonga ◽

S. O. Keya ◽

E. Komutunga

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Fertility ◽

Data Base ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Indicators ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Sustainable Land Use ◽

Soil Quality Indicators ◽

Local Soil ◽

Semi Arid

Uganda Government embarked on promoting sedentary agriculture in Karamoja agro-pastoral semi-arid livelihood zone, which experience rapid environmental and high soil quality (SQ) decline. However, studies on sedentary agriculture’s impact on soil quality using farmer’s knowledge is limited. Consequently, a survey was carried out in Karamoja (Iriiri, Matany Sub-counties of Napak of districts and Rengen sub-county of Kotido) to determine the soil quality indicator parameters based on the farmers knowledge in order to build a local soil knowledge data base to better inform sustainable land use strategies. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, forty indigenous farmers per sub-county, were interviewed between August and September, 2015. The study took into account the social demographic characteristics of the people, farming enterprises, methods of crops production, crops yields trends, causes of the perceived yields trends and soil quality indicators. Prospects of developing Karamoja indigenous knowledge data base lies in visible feature that predict soil quality. Farmers used 36 parameters to determine SQ. The parameters were clustered into five categories; soil, crop, biological, environmental and management each category contributing to 42, 19,14,8 and 17% of the total indicators, respectively. The relationship between age group and the perceived indicators of soil fertility was statistically significant (p-value = 0.045) with the majority stating that they use either soil colour, soil depth or soil texture to express the fertility of soil. The farmer’s soil quality indicators assessed in this study, is important in establishing indigenous-scientific hybrid knowledge data base to enhance soil fertility maintenance and better inform policy makers and other stakeholders on development of sustainable land use strategies.

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Effects of Land Use/Land Cover Changes on Selected Soil Physical and Chemical Properties in Shenkolla Watershed, South Central Ethiopia

Advances in Agriculture ◽

10.1155/2020/5145483 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Belayneh Bufebo ◽

Eyasu Elias

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Cover ◽

Soil Fertility ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Land Cover Changes ◽

Land Use Land Cover ◽

Forest Land ◽

South Central ◽

Effects Of Land Use ◽

Poor Management

Land use change from natural ecosystems to managed agroecosystems is one of the main causes of soil fertility decline. Severe soil erosion caused by agricultural expansion and poor management worsened soil nutrient depletion in cultivated outfields (crop lands). This study was conducted to examine the effects of land use and land cover changes (LU/LC) on selected soil physicochemical properties in the Shenkolla watershed. A total of 40 top soil samples at 0–20 cm depth were collected from four land use/land cover types (forest land, grazing land, cultivated outfield, and cultivated homestead garden fields). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to determine differences in soil parameters among land use types. Treatment means comparison was determined using the least significant difference (LSD) at 0.05 level of significances. The result indicated that there were significant P<0.05 differences among the four LU/LC types for soil characteristics. For most parameters evaluated, the most favorable soil properties were observed in the forest land, followed by homestead garden fields, while the least favorable soil properties were found in intensively cultivated outfields. Increase in the extent of cultivated land at the expense of forest cover associated with poor management has promoted significant loss of soil quality in intensively cultivated outfields. Reducing the land cover conversion and adopting proper management practices of the soil commonly used in homestead garden fields are very crucial in order to improve soil fertility in intensively cultivated outfields.

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Assessing the impacts of land use and land cover changes on soil functions using landscape function analysis and soil quality indicators in semi-arid natural ecosystems

CATENA ◽

10.1016/j.catena.2019.02.021 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 177 ◽

pp. 260-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Mojdeh Safaei ◽

Hossein Bashari ◽

Mohammad Reza Mosaddeghi ◽

Reza Jafari

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Cover ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Function Analysis ◽

Land Cover Changes ◽

Soil Functions ◽

Soil Quality Indicators ◽

Natural Ecosystems ◽

Landscape Function ◽

Semi Arid

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Effects of Afforestation on Plant Diversity and Soil Quality in Semiarid SE Spain

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12121730 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 1730

Author(s):

Carmen Segura ◽

María N. Jiménez ◽

Emilia Fernández-Ondoño ◽

Francisco B. Navarro

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Soil Quality Indicators ◽

Higher Plant ◽

Se Spain ◽

Semiarid Environments ◽

Edaphic Variables

Farmland afforestation has been promoted in recent decades and is one of the main strategies included in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to recover degraded areas. However, the impacts of afforestation on plant diversity and soil quality indicators are still not well-understood in semiarid environments. In this study, we assessed the relationships between plant diversity indicators (abundance, total richness, richness by functional groups, and Shannon diversity) and a large number of variables in 48 afforestation sites in southeast Spain. We considered associated environmental factors, such as geographical, climatic or edaphic variables, age, and land-use history. We compared plant diversity and soil properties following land-use change from cereal cropping to afforestation, which is one of the most common land-use changes in Mediterranean areas. Plant diversity in afforested sites was found to be dependent on previous land use, the proximity of natural vegetation, several soil properties (texture, pH, and total nitrogen), and plantation age. Afforested soils showed higher plant diversity and an improvement in edaphic parameters related to multifunctionality in semiarid ecosystems (i.e., soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and potassium) than arable cropped soils.

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Physical soil quality indicators for monitoring British soils

Solid Earth ◽

10.5194/se-8-1003-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 1003-1016 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ron Corstanje ◽

Theresa G. Mercer ◽

Jane R. Rickson ◽

Lynda K. Deeks ◽

Paul Newell-Price ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Indicators ◽

Management Practices ◽

Aggregate Stability ◽

Rate Of Change ◽

Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽

Soil Quality Indicators ◽

Soil Monitoring ◽

Soil Water Retention

Abstract. Soil condition or quality determines its ability to deliver a range of functions that support ecosystem services, human health and wellbeing. The increasing policy imperative to implement successful soil monitoring programmes has resulted in the demand for reliable soil quality indicators (SQIs) for physical, biological and chemical soil properties. The selection of these indicators needs to ensure that they are sensitive and responsive to pressure and change, e.g. they change across space and time in relation to natural perturbations and land management practices. Using a logical sieve approach based on key policy-related soil functions, this research assessed whether physical soil properties can be used to indicate the quality of British soils in terms of their capacity to deliver ecosystem goods and services. The resultant prioritised list of physical SQIs was tested for robustness, spatial and temporal variability, and expected rate of change using statistical analysis and modelling. Seven SQIs were prioritised: soil packing density, soil water retention characteristics, aggregate stability, rate of soil erosion, depth of soil, soil structure (assessed by visual soil evaluation) and soil sealing. These all have direct relevance to current and likely future soil and environmental policy and are appropriate for implementation in soil monitoring programmes.

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