The Role of Land Use Change on Some Soil Physicochemical Properties (Case Study:Watershed Basin of Keyasar Galooga)

Document Type : Research Paper

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Abstract

The change of forest to agricultural lands has serious effects on the amount of soil organic
matter and physico- chemical characteristics. Noting the increasing change of forestry land use in
Mazandaran province, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of land use change on soil
characteristics in the Nekaroad watershed. For this purpose, soil samples were collected from the
two depths (0-10 and 10-20 cm) and three different land uses (forest, pasture and agriculture). Then
the sample were compared based on a randomized complete block design. The results showed that
the bulk density, Calcium carbonate, pH and sand percent of the soil were increased while the soil
porosity, cation exchange capacity, silt and clay percent were decreased with the change of forest
land use to pasture and agriculture. The amounts of organic matter in the soil layer with the depth of
0-10 cm at the agricultural and pasture lands compared to forest land were decreased about 35.70
and 21.85 %, respectively. Similarly, the reduction of organic matter in the soil layer with the depth
of 10-20 cm in the same lands were 36.22 and 22.64%, respectively. The maximum total nitrogen
was 0.37 %, which was observed in the soil depth of 0-10 cm at forest land while the minimum of it
was 0.16 % in the soil depth of 10-20 cm at agricultural land which showed a reduction of 56.75%.

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Water and Soil Science
Volume 26, 1-1 - Serial Number 2
June 2016
Pages 159-171

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