Changes in soil organic carbon stocks and soil quality: land-use system effects in northern Ethiopia

Girmay, Gebreyohannes; Singh, Bharat Raj

doi:10.1080/09064710.2012.663786

Cited by 26 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Mean value for BD varied from 1.12 g cm −3 (in exclosure) to 1.34 g cm −3 (in grazing land) in nearby site [4].…”

Section: Swc Measuresmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The process of land degradation was accelerated due to high human and livestock population pressures; and steep topography [4] in combination with the highly variable (20-40%) and unreliable rainfall, where 70-90% of the rainfall occurs during July and August [1]. The trend is mainly common in Tigray highlands in northern Ethiopia [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The trend is mainly common in Tigray highlands in northern Ethiopia [5]. Overexploitation and mismanagement of these highlands caused serious soil erosion, loss of soil quality, and soil organic carbon [2,4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exclosures backed up with community-based soil and water conservation practices increased soil organic carbon stock and microbial biomass carbon distribution, in the northern highlands of Ethiopia

Welemariam

Kebede

Bedadi

et al. 2018

Chem. Biol. Technol. Agric.

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Background: Land degradation is a treat for natural resources in Tigray high lands of northern Ethiopia, where 30-50 percent of the soil productive capacity has been lost in the past 500 years. Restoration and management of degraded lands improve soil health through enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and microbial biomass carbon (MBC). The knowledge on SOC and MBC concentration and distribution is essential to refine soil management, thereby restoring the ecosystem. This paper quantified the effect of decades old community-based soil and water conservation (SWC) measures, mainly stone terraces, exclosure with and without stone terraces, and non-conserved communal grazing lands on the distribution of MBC and SOC stock.Methods: Soil sample collection was carried out using systematic sampling design. Transects parallel to each other and to the slope of the landscape were established. In each transect, three landscape positions (i.e., upper, middle, and foot slope) were formed. Composite soil samples were taken from four corners and center of 10 m × 10 m plot of each slope positions under the different SWC measures. Analysis of variance was used to determine the difference in SOC and MBC using SAS 9.2. Results:Total soil organic carbon concentration was significantly higher in exclosures as compared to terraces and non-conserved grazing lands. The highest mean value of SOC stock (29 Mg C ha ) was recorded in non-conserved communal grazing lands. Exclosures with terraces improved SOC stock by 64%, followed by exclosures without terraces by 37%, while terraces improved the SOC stock by 25% compared to non-conserved open communal grazing lands in the last 20 years. The upper (0-15 cm) soil depth had significantly (P < 0.05) higher (24 Mg C ha ). Microbial biomass carbon was the highest (640 mg kg −1 soil) in exclosures without terraces, followed by exclosures with terraces, (570 mg kg −1 soil), terraces (440 mg kg −1 soil), and non-conserved communal grazing lands (370 mg kg −1 soil). Conclusion:Exclosures supported with terraces improved and restored the SOC stock and microbial biomass carbon of degraded free grazing lands in the highlands.

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“…Mean value for BD varied from 1.12 g cm −3 (in exclosure) to 1.34 g cm −3 (in grazing land) in nearby site [4].…”

Section: Swc Measuresmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Exclosures backed up with community-based soil and water conservation practices increased soil organic carbon stock and microbial biomass carbon distribution, in the northern highlands of Ethiopia

Welemariam

Kebede

Bedadi

et al. 2018

Chem. Biol. Technol. Agric.

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show abstract

“…agroforestry) contributed variations on the distribution of soil carbon content along the agroecosystems. Many investigators explained that biotic factors and management activities, such as irrigation production in watershed areas at the local condition (Haile et al, 2014;Shiferaw et al, 2015) and ecological elements, such as climate at the large scale, like tropical regions (FAO, 2001), play fundamental roles and affect carbon inputs into the soil and decomposition processes (Girmay and Singh, 2012). …”

Section: Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics At the Level Of Agroecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Carbon Stocks, Dynamics and Restoration in Relation to Soils of Agroecosystems in Ethiopia: A Review

2017

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Soils represent the largest carbon pool and play important roles for carbon storage for prolonged periods in agroecosystems. A number of studies were conducted to quantify soil organic carbon (SOC) worldwide. The objective of this review was to evaluate organic carbon stocks, dynamics and restoration in soils of agroecosystems in Ethiopia. Soil data from 32 different observations, representing four different agroecosystems, were analysed. The mean SOC stocks in the four agroecosystems varied and ranged from 25.66 (sub-humid agroecosystem) to 113.17 (humid midhighland agroecosystems) Mg C ha -1 up to one meter depth. The trend of mean SOC followed (in descending order): humid mid-highland (113.17 Mg C ha -1 ) > per-humid highland (57.14 Mg C ha -1 ) > semi-arid (25.77 Mg C ha -1 ) > sub-humid (25.66 Mg C ha -1 ). Compared with soils of tropical countries, those in Ethiopian agroecosystems contained low SOC storage potential. This might be associated with differences in measurement and analysis methods as 53.1% of the studies employed the Walkley-Black Method, which is known to underestimate carbon stocks in addition to ecological and management effects. However, shifts of land management from rain-fed to irrigation farming systems exhibited progress in the improvement of mean SOC storage potential. The analyses showed that farming systems involving irrigation sequestered more carbon than rain-fed farm systems. The mean SOC in the various agricultural land uses followed the following trend (in descending order): agroforestry (153.57 Mg C ha -1 ) > grazing land (34.61 Mg C ha -1 ) > cereal cultivation (24.18 Mg C ha -1 ). Therefore, the possible solutions for improvement of organic carbon stocks would be implementation of appropriate restoration strategies based on agroecosystems.

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“…Soil physicochemical properties have varying impact degrees on the soil quality. As a result, the assessment of integrated soil quality indicators is on the basis of the average weighted contribution of each soil property, which may better quantify soil quality indicators for different land-use types [3,4]. Recently, the land-use type and its impact on soil quality have become research focuses at home and abroad [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Quality Status of Different Land-Use Types in Shiqu County, China

Liao¹,

Tang²,

Wang³

et al. 2015

Proceedings of the 2015 International Symposium on Energy Science and Chemical Engineering

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Abstract. The soil quality status of three typical land-use types (grassland, forestland and cultivated land) in Shiqu County is surveyed, including soil pH, soil calcium carbonate, cation exchange capacity, organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium and microelements levels. The soil quality of different land-use types is evaluated by the soil quality index. The investigation results indicate the different land-use types display significant differences in soil fertility, and the Shiqu County soil is serious lack of microelements. In addition, the soil quality index of different land-use types is in order of grassland (73.2%) > forestland (62.2%) > cultivated land (27.1%).

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Changes in soil organic carbon stocks and soil quality: land-use system effects in northern Ethiopia

Cited by 26 publications

References 33 publications

Exclosures backed up with community-based soil and water conservation practices increased soil organic carbon stock and microbial biomass carbon distribution, in the northern highlands of Ethiopia

Exclosures backed up with community-based soil and water conservation practices increased soil organic carbon stock and microbial biomass carbon distribution, in the northern highlands of Ethiopia

Organic Carbon Stocks, Dynamics and Restoration in Relation to Soils of Agroecosystems in Ethiopia: A Review

Soil Quality Status of Different Land-Use Types in Shiqu County, China

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