Abstract
Soil characterization is crucial in creating sustainable platforms for land users to identify areas vulnerable to anthropogenic activities. This study was conducted to investigate the impacts of lithology, slope, and land use on soil properties of a semi-arid highland in northern Ethiopia. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples collected from 0 to 30 cm depth were analyzed. Most of the assessed physical and biochemical soil properties varied significantly (p < 0.05) with lithology, slope class, and land use type. Shale-originated soils were richer in nutrients than soils of other lithologies. A decrease in slope gradient accounted for an increase in most soil properties, while a reverse trend was observed for sand content, bulk density (BD), water stable aggregates (WSA), mean weight diameter (MWD), structural stability index (SSI), soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and available phosphorus (AP). Silt and clay fractions, total porosity, moisture content at field capacity and wilting point, visual evaluation of soil structure, pH, electrical conductivity, calcium carbonate, exchangeable bases, cation exchange capacity, and percent base saturation were found to be higher for cultivated land soils compared to grass land and shrub land soils. Shrub land soils, in contrast, had higher WSA, MWD, SSI, SOC, TN, and AP relative to grass land and cultivated land soils. In summary, slope class and land use type stood out as the major drivers influencing the dynamics and distribution of soil properties other than lithology and their interactions in semi-arid highlands of northern Ethiopia. Thus, from sustainability point of view and in the light of their nutrient retention capability and limitation, more attention should be paid toward ensuring periodic assessment and sustainable management of soils in steep cultivated lands.
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The data used to generate the results presented in this paper are available and can be shared upon a reasonable request to the corresponding author.
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Funding was provided by the Ethiopian Ministry of Education.
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Araya Kahsay participated in conceptualization, designing methodology, software, formal analysis, review and editing. Mitiku Haile was responsible in conceptualization, sampling design, review and editing, supervision and project administration. Girmay Gebresamuel: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, validation, supervision. Muktar Mohammed: conceptualization, analysis, reviewing and editing, supervision, funding acquisition. Chukwuebuka Christopher Okolo: conceptualization, sampling design, analysis, reviewing and editing.
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Kahsay, A., Haile, M., Gebresamuel, G. et al. Dynamics of soil properties as impacted by contrasting lithology, slope class, and land use types: a case study in semi-arid highlands of northern Ethiopia. Environ Monit Assess 195, 1091 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11706-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11706-8