Soil property changes over a 120-yr chronosequence from forest to agriculture in western Kenya

Nyberg, Gert; Bargués‐Tobella, Aida; Kinyangi, James; Ilstedt, Ulrik

doi:10.5194/hess-16-2085-2012

Cited by 41 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…The increase in bulk density with intensification of land use was mirrored by a decrease in the water infiltration capacity. This observation concurs with the findings of Nyberg et al (2012) who found that conversion of natural forest to agricultural land uses can lead to reductions of 60% in the infiltration rate within 40 years after conversion in western Kenya. Results from our study showed higher median infiltration rates compared to results by Nyberg et al (2012), who did their experiments only 70 km away from our study sites.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Conversion of natural forest results in a significant degradation of soil hydraulic properties in the highlands of Kenya

Butterbach‐Bahl

Guzha

et al. 2018

Soil and Tillage Research

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Land use change, especially conversion of native forests can have large impacts on water resources. Large scale conversion of native forests to agricultural land has occurred in the last few decades in the Mau Forest region. To quantify and understand landscape hydrologic responses, this study aimed at evaluating the effects of land use on soil infiltration, saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density, sorptivity, and soil moisture retention. A total of 136 plots representing five different land uses (native forest: n = 39, forest plantations: n = 14, tea plantations: n = 24, croplands: n = 23 and pasture: n = 36) were sampled in three catchments with similar parental material in the Mau Forest region, Western Kenya. Native forest topsoils (0-5 cm) had a bulk density of 1.0 ± 0.2 g cm −3 which was similar to values found for topsoils of forest plantations (1.1 ± 0.2 g cm −3), but significantly lower than topsoils from croplands (1.4 ± 0.2 g cm −3), tea plantation (1.3 ± 0.3 g cm −3) and pastures (1.4 ± 0.2 g cm −3). Similarly, soil infiltration rates were higher in native forest (76.1 ± 50 cm h −1) and in forest plantation (60.2 ± 47.9 cm h −1) than in croplands (40.5 ± 21.5 cm h-1), tea plantations (43.3 ± 29.2 cm h −1) and pastures (13.8 ± 14.6 cm h −1). Native forest had the highest topsoil organic carbon contents (8.11 ± 2.42%) and field capacity (0.62 ±0.12 cm 3 cm −3), while the highest permanent wilting point was recorded for pasture soils (mean of 0.41 ± 0.06 cm cm −3). The highest plant available water capacity was recorded for Changes in land use and land management have a strong impact on soil properties, such as hydraulic conductivity and bulk density (

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Conversion of natural forest results in a significant degradation of soil hydraulic properties in the highlands of Kenya

Butterbach‐Bahl

Guzha

et al. 2018

Soil and Tillage Research

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“…However, the time that would be needed for a complete recovery will vary greatly across different landscapes and ecosystems-a major determinant being past land use and land management. Several studies have investigated the effects of land cover type and land use history on soil hydraulic properties (e.g., infiltrability and Ksat; Bonell et al, 2010;Descheemaeker et al, 2006;Elsenbeer, Newton, Dunne, & de Moraes, 1999;Lal, 1996;Niemeyer, Fremier, Heinse, Chávez, & DeClerck, 2014;Nyberg et al, 2012;Yimer, Messing, Ledin, & Abdelkadir, 2008;Zimmermann, Elsenbeer, & De Moraes, 2006). However, fewer studies have looked explicitly at forest age to understand the recovery of these properties under secondary succession (see examples listed in Table 1), and to our knowledge, no studies of this kind were carried out in dry tropical forests.…”

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The influence of forest regrowth on soil hydraulic properties and erosion in a semiarid region of Brazil

et al. 2017

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Dryland tropical forests are important but little‐understood ecosystems. These landscapes are at risk globally because of accelerated deforestation and the consequent losses of hydrological functions. An example is the Caatinga shrublands in northeastern Brazil; these dry tropical forests are undergoing rapid change as the land is converted to cultivated cropland and pastureland and then often abandoned after the land is exhausted, allowing forests to regrow. In this study, we evaluated how these changes influence soil hydraulic properties and soil erosion in Caatinga landscapes, by examining four sites of different ages: a recently abandoned pasture, a young (7 years of regrowth) secondary forest, an intermediate (35 years of regrowth) secondary forest, and an older (more than 55 years) forest. Rainfall simulation was used to assess soil infiltrability and susceptibility to erosion. In addition, we determined hydrological conductivity in the field using the Beerkan method (Kfs) and collected samples for laboratory‐determined measurements (Ks). We found that infiltrability and Kfs values were progressively higher as time since land abandonment increased, whereas Ks values were not significantly different across sites. Infiltrability was approximately 2 times smaller than Ks and Kfs—possibly owing to the formation of soil crusts from raindrop impact. Soil erosion did not show a progressive improvement with forest age and was better explained by site characteristics, such as herbaceous cover and slope. In general, our results suggest that in Caatinga landscapes, more than 35 years is required for the recovery of soil hydraulic properties following land abandonment.

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“…Conversely, Price et al (2010) showed that the hydraulic properties decreased after a forest was converted to a non-forest because soil compaction associated with land management practices. Moreover, Nyberg et al (2012) reported that soil infiltrability decreased with time after a forest was converted to a cropland, with decreased in soil carbon and nitrogen and increased soil bulk density.…”

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Soil hydraulic conductivity as affected by vegetation restoration age on the Loess Plateau, China

et al. 2016

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Abstract:The Loess Plateau of China has experienced extensive vegetation restoration in the past several decades, which leads to great changes in soil properties such as soil bulk, porosity, and organic matter with the vegetation restoration age. And these soil properties have great effect on the soil infiltration and soil hydraulic conductivity. However, the potential changes in soil hydraulic conductivity caused by vegetation restoration age have not been well understood. This study was conducted to investigate the changes in soil hydraulic conductivity under five grasslands with different vegetation restoration ages (3, 10, 18, 28 and 37 years) compared to a slope farmland, and further to identify the factors responsible for these changes on the Loess Plateau of China. At each site, accumulative infiltration amount and soil hydraulic conductivity were determined using a disc permeameter with a water supply pressure of -20 mm. Soil properties were measured for analyzing their potential factors influencing soil hydraulic conductivity. The results showed that the soil bulk had no significant changes over the initial 20 years of restoration (P>0.05); the total porosity, capillary porosity and field capacity decreased significantly in the grass land with 28 and 37 restoration ages compared to the slope farmland; accumulative infiltration amount and soil hydraulic conductivity were significantly enhanced after 18 years of vegetation restoration. However, accumulative infiltration amount and soil hydraulic conductivity fluctuated over the initial 10 years of restoration. The increase in soil hydraulic conductivity with vegetation restoration was closely related to the changes in soil texture and structure. Soil sand and clay contents were the most influential factors on soil hydraulic conductivity, followed by bulk density, soil porosity, root density and crust thickness. The Pearson correlation coefficients indicated that the soil hydraulic conductivity was affected by multiply factors. These results are helpful to understand the changes in hydrological and erosion processes response to vegetation succession on the Loess Plateau.

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Soil property changes over a 120-yr chronosequence from forest to agriculture in western Kenya

Cited by 41 publications

References 71 publications

Conversion of natural forest results in a significant degradation of soil hydraulic properties in the highlands of Kenya

Conversion of natural forest results in a significant degradation of soil hydraulic properties in the highlands of Kenya

The influence of forest regrowth on soil hydraulic properties and erosion in a semiarid region of Brazil

Soil hydraulic conductivity as affected by vegetation restoration age on the Loess Plateau, China

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