Variation of Selected Soil Properties in Relation to Land Use Types and Slope Steepness in a Mountainous Watershed, Ethiopia
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Hailu Kendie Addis, Andreas Klik, Theib Oweis, Stefan Strohmeier. (30/9/2015). Variation of Selected Soil Properties in Relation to Land Use Types and Slope Steepness in a Mountainous Watershed, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Abstract
Deforestation of the native forests for crop production in the Gumara-Maksegnit watershed,
located in the Lake Tana basin, Ethiopia, dramatically increases the vulnerability of the soil for
rainfall driven erosion. Hence, the central task of the study is to investigate general links of landuse
and topography related to selected soil properties. The 53.7km2 watershed was divided into a
500m by 500m square grid to sample bulk density (pb), pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total
nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AP) and texture of the topsoil. Such properties were
investigated with respect to the two main land-uses, forest and agriculture, and three different
slope steepness classes, 0-10%, 10-30%, >30%. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses
were undertaken to explore potential dependencies of the obtained soil parameters according to
land-use and slope steepness. The study indicates higher SOC and TN as well as higher silt and sand content in forest soils compared to agricultural soils, where solely pd is lower in the forest soil. Overall increases of SOC, TN, silt and sand content from the gentle to the steep slopes have
been observed for all land-uses. In contrast, clay content and pd seem to increase from steep to gentle
slopes on agricultural areas, which might be due to accumulation of particularly fine soil
particles eroded from the steep areas. Basic correlations valid for all land-uses and slope
steepness have not been detected. Nevertheless, the study suggests slope steepness as a tool to
assess the potential drivers of soil depletion in the Ethiopian Highlands.
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Author(s) ORCID(s)
Oweis, Theib https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2003-4852
Strohmeier, Stefan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0723-5964
Strohmeier, Stefan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0723-5964