Abstract
Land use type affects the soil organic carbon (SOC) which is an important indicator of soil quality. Current study was aimed to investigate land use type and seasonal impact on soil properties, soil organic carbon and total nitrogen under three land use types i.e. cropland (CL), grassland (GL) and forestland (FL) of a sub-temperate highland of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Soil samples were taken from the depths of 0–15 and 15–30 cm depths in summer, winter, autumn, and spring. Cropland was more alkaline (7.13) than grassland (7.0) and forestland (6.64) indicating higher pH values of about 2–7%. Similarly, soil bulk density was higher in cropland than in grassland and forestland. Particle-size distribution among land use type showed that grassland and forestland had 9–16% less and 10–20% higher clay contents than cropland. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) content were inversely proportional to soil depth, mainly concentrated in surface soil and were higher in forestland than grassland and cropland. Most of the soil organic carbon and total nitrogen was associated with macroaggregates (Ma) in 0–15 cm and with microaggregates (Mi) in 15–30 cm soil layers, whereas silt + clay fraction had least SOC and TN contents irrespective of land use and soil depth. Bulk density and soil particle-size distribution didn’t change during the year. However, soil pH, soil organic carbon and total nitrogen significantly varied between seasons. The present study indicated that soil properties were greatly influenced by the land use type than by seasons. Therefore, the study reinforces the need for developing and devising suitable soil management practices for croplands. Incorporation of organic inputs and retaining the land cover with natural vegetation, or mulching should be promoted in the area.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
A. S. Meena, T. Mondal, B. M. Pandey, A. Mukherjee, R. P. Yadav, M. Choudhary, S. Singh, J. K. Bisht, and A. Pattanayak, “Land use changes: strategies to improve soil carbon and nitrogen storage pattern in the mid-Himalaya ecosystem, India,” Geoderma 321, 69–78 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.02.002
A. Walkley and I. A. Black, “An examination of Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter, and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method,” Soil Sci. 37, 29–38 (1934).
B. A. Miheretu, and A. A. Yimer, “Spatial variability of selected soil properties in relation to land use and slope position in Gelana sub-watershed, Northern highlands of Ethiopia,” Phys. Geogr. 39 (3), 230–245 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/02723646.2017.1380972
B. Barthès and E. Roose, “Aggregate stability as an indicator of soil susceptibility to runoff and erosion; validation at several levels,” Catena 47 (2), 133–149 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(01)00180-1
B. M. Shrestha, B. R. Singh, B. K. Sitaula, R. Lal, and R. M. Bajracharya, “Soil aggregate- and particle-associated organic carbon under different land uses in Nepal,” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 71 (4), 1194–1203 (2008). https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2006.0405
B. Minasny, B. P. Malone, and A. B. McBratney, “'Soil carbon 4 per mille,” Geoderma 292, 59–86 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.01.002
C. Castro Filho, A. Lourenço, M. de F. Guimarães, and I. C. B. Fonseca, “Aggregate stability under different soil management systems in a red latosol in the state of Parana, Brazil,” Soil Tillage Res. 65 (1), 45–51 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-1987(01)00275-6
C. Celik, “Land-use effects on organic matter and physical properties of soil in a southern Mediterranean highland of Turkey,” Soil Tillage Res. 83 (2), 270–277 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2004.08.001
C. Poeplau, A. Don, L. Vesterdal, J. Leifeld, B. V. V. Wesemael, J. Schumacher, and A. Gensior, “Temporal dynamics of soil organic carbon after land-use change in the temperate zone—Carbon response functions as a model approach,” Global Change Biol. 17 (7), 2415–2427 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02408.x
L. Deng, G.-Y. Zhu, Z.-S. Tang, and Z.-P. Shangguan, “Global patterns of the effects of land-use changes on soil carbon stocks,” Global Ecol. Conserv. 5, 127–138 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2015.12.004
E. T. Elliott, “Aggregate structure and carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in native and cultivated soils,” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 50 (3), 627–633 (1986). https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1986.03615995005000030017x
F. Yimer, S. Ledin, and A. Abdelkadir, “Changes in soil organic carbon and total nitrogen contents in three adjacent land use types in the Bale Mountains, south-eastern highlands of Ethiopia,” Forest Ecol. Manage. 242 (2–3), 337–342 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2007.01.087
G. Girmay, B. R. Singh, J. Nyssen, and T. Borrosen, “Runoff and sediment-associated nutrient losses under different land uses in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia,” J. Hydrol. 376 (1–2), 70–80 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.07.066
G. J. Bouyoucos, “Hydrometer method improved for making particle size analysis of soils,” Agron. J. 54 (5), 464–465 (1962). https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1962.00021962005400050028x
G. R. Blake, and K. H. Hartge, “Bulk density,” in Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 1: Physical and Mineralogical Methods, Ed. by A. Klute (Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, 1986), pp. 363–375.
H. Dameni, J. Wang, and L. Qin, “Soil aggregate and organic carbon stability under different land uses in the North China Plain,” Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 41 (9), 1144–1157 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1080/00103621003711297
H. R. Oberholzer, J. Leifeld, and J. Mayer, “Changes in soil carbon and crop yield over 60 years in the Zurich Organic Fertilization Experiment, following land-use change from grassland to cropland,” J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 177 (5), 696–704 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.201300385
J. D. Jastrow, “Soil aggregate formation and the accrual of particulate and mineral-associated organic matter,” Soil Biol. Biochem. 28 (4–5), 665–676 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(95)00159-X
J. E. Herrick, W. G. Whitford, A. G. de Soyza, J. W. Van Zee, K. M. Havstad, C. A. Seybold, and M. Walton, “Field soil aggregate stability kit for soil quality and rangeland health evaluations,” Catena 44 (1), 27–35 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(00)00173-9
J. M. Bremner and C. S. Mulvaney, “Nitrogen-Total,” in Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2: Chemical and Microbiological Properties, Ed. by A. L. Page, et al. (Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, 1982), pp. 383–411.
J. Six, R. T. Conant, E. A. Paul, and K. Paustian, “Stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter: implications for C-saturation of soils,” Plant Soil 241 (2), 155–176 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016125726789
K. M. Samani, N. Pordel, V. Hosseini, and Z. Borrosen, “Effect of land-use changes on chemical and physical properties of soil in western Iran (Zagros oak forests),” J. For. Res. 31 (2), 637–647 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0799-y
K. R. Islam and R. R. Weil, “Land use effects on soil quality in a tropical forest ecosystem of Bangladesh,” Agric., Ecosyst. Environ. 79 (1), 9–16 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8809(99)00145-0
K. R. Olson and A. N. Gennadiev, “Dynamics of soil organic carbon storage and erosion due to land use change (Illinois, USA),” Eurasian Soil Sci. 53, 436–445 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229320040122
A. Kavian, A. Azmoodeh, and K. Solaimani, “Deforestation effects on soil properties, runoff and erosion in northern Iran,” Arab. J. Geosci. 7 (5), 1941–1950 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-0853-1
L. Martínez-Zavala, A. Jordán López, and N. Bellinfante, “Seasonal variability of runoff and soil loss on forest road backslopes under simulated rainfall,” Catena 74 (1), 73–79 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2008.03.006
L. Qiu, X. Wei, X. Zhang, J. Cheng, W. Gale, C. Guo, and T. Long, “Soil organic carbon losses due to land use change in a semiarid grassland,” Plant Soil 355 (1–2), 299–309 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1099-x
M. K. Abbasi, M. Zafar, and S. R. Khan, “Influence of different land-cover types on the changes of selected soil properties in the mountain region of Rawalakot Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 78 (1), 97–110 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-006-9077-z
M. Maharjan, M. Sanaullah, B. S. Razavi, and Y. Kuzyakov, “Effect of land use and management practices on microbial biomass and enzyme activities in subtropical top- and sub-soils,” Appl. Soil Ecol. 113, 22–28 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.01.008
M. Martıinez-Mena, K. Deeks, and A. G. Williams, “An evaluation of a fragmentation fractal dimension technique to determine soil erodibility,” Geoderma 90 (1–2), 87–98 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7061(98)00097-4
M. R. Bravo-Garza, P. Voroney, and R. B. Bryan, “Particulate organic matter in water stable aggregates formed after the addition of 14C-labeled maize residues and wetting and drying cycles in vertisols,” Soil Biol. Biochem. 42 (6), 953–959 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.02.012
M. S. Sanatana, E. V. B. Sampaio, V. Giongo, R. S. C. Menezes, K. N. Jesus, E. R. G. M. Albuquerque, D. M. Nascimento, F. G. C. P. Pareyn, T. J. F. Cunha, R. M. B. Sampaio, and D. C. Primo, “Carbon and nitrogen stocks of soils under different land uses in Pernambuco state, Brazil,” Geoderma Reg. 16, e00205 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2019.e00205
M. Safaei, H. Bashari, M. R. Mosaddeghi, and R. Jafari, “Assessing the impacts of land use and land cover changes on soil functions using landscape function analysis and soil quality indicators in semi-arid natural ecosystems,” Catena 177, 260–271 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2019.02.021
M. V. Fey, A. D. Manson, and R. Schutte, “Acidification of the pedosphere,” S. Afr. J. Plant Soil 86 (7–10), 403–406 (1990).
M. Wiesmeier, M. V. Lützow, P. Spörlein, U. Geu, E. Hangen, A. Reischl, B. Schilling, and I. Kögel-Knabnera, “Land use effects on organic carbon storage in soils of Bavaria: The importance of soil types,” Soil Tillage Res. 146, 296–302 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2014.10.003
M. Wiesmeier, P. Spörlein, U. Geu, E. Hangen, S. Haug, A. Reischl, B. Schilling, M. von Lützow, and I. Kögel-Knabner, “Soil organic carbon stocks in southeast Germany (Bavaria) as affected by land use, soil type and sampling depth,” Global Change Biol. 18 (7), 2233–2245 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02699.x
N. Brady and R. Weil, The Nature and Properties of Soils (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2002).
N. F. Fang, Z. H. Shi, L. Li, Z. L. Guo, Q. J. Liu, and L. Ai, “The effects of rainfall regimes and land use changes on runoff and soil loss in a small mountainous watershed,” Catena 99, 1–8 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2012.07.004
P. Illiger, G. Schmidt, I. Walde, S. Hese, A. E. Kudrjavzev, N. Kurepina, A. Mizgirev, E. Stephan, A. Bondarovich, and M. Fruhauf, “Estimation of regional soil organic carbon stocks merging classified land-use information with detailed soil data,” Sci. Total Environ. 695 (10), 133–755 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133755
R. A. Houghton, “Revised estimates of the annual net flux of carbon to the atmosphere from changes in land use and land management 1850–2000,” Tellus B 55 (2), 378–390 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0889.2003.01450.x
R. Lal, “Beyond Copenhagen: mitigating climate change and achieving food security through soil carbon sequestration,” Food Security 2 (2), 169–177 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-010-0060-9
R. Lal, W. Negassa, and K. Lorenz, “Carbon sequestration in soil,” Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustainability 15, 79–86 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2015.09.002
R. P. Yadav, J. K. Bisht, B. M. Pandey, A. Kumar, and A. Pattanayak, “Cutting management versus biomass and carbon stock of oak under high density plantation in central Himalaya, India,” Appl. Ecol. Environ. Res. 14 (3), 207–214 (2016). https://doi.org/10.15666/aeer/1403_207214
S. Ayoubi, F. K. Khormali, L. Sahrawat, and R. Lima, “Assessing impacts of land use change on soil quality indicators in a loessial soil in Golestan Province, Iran,” J. Agric. Sci. Technol. 13 (5), 727–742 (2011).
S. Niaz, S. Ijaz, A. Hassan, and M. Sharif, “Land-use impacts on soil organic carbon fractions in different rainfall areas of a subtropical dryland,” Arch. Agron. Soil Sci. 63 (10), 1337–1345 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2017.1280727
Soil Survey Staff, Keys to Soil Taxonomy (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC, 2010).
T. Chibsa and A. A. Ta, “Assessment of soil organic matter under four land use systems in major soils of bale highlands, southeast Ethiopia. b. Factors affecting soil organic matter distribution,” World Appl. Sci. J. 6 (11), 1231–1246 (2009).
T. Rasool, A. Q. Dara, and M. A. Wani, “Quantification of spatial variability of soil physical properties in a lesser Himalayan sub-basin of India,” Eurasian Soil Sci. 53, 362–376 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229320030060
U. Sahani and N. Behera, “Impact of deforestation on soil physicochemical characteristics, microbial biomass and microbial activity of tropical soil,” Land Degrad. Dev. 12 (2), 93–105, (2001). https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.429
U. Stockmann, J. Padarian, A. Mcbratney, B. Minasny, D. D. Brogniez, L. Montanarella, S. Y. Hong, B. G. Rawlins, and D. J. Field, “Global soil organic carbon assessment,” Global Food Security 6, 9–16 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2015.07.001
V. Schreiner and B. C. Meyer, “Indicators of land degradation in steppe regions: Soil and morphodynamics in the Northern Kulunda,” in Novel Measurement and Assessment Tools for Monitoring and Management of Land and Water Resources in Agricultural Landscapes of Central Asia, Ed. by L. Mueller, et al. (Springer-Verlag, Cham, 2014), pp. 535–548. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01017-5_33
W. Barthes, E. Amezquita, M. J. Fisher, and R. Lal, “Soil organic carbon dynamics and land use in the Colombian Savannas I: Aggregate size distribution”, in Soil Processes and the Carbon Cycle, Ed. by R. Lal, (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1997), pp. 267–280.
X. Wang, L. Pu, M. Zhang, Q. Wang, and X. Yu, “Spatial and temporal variations of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen pools in the coastal reclamation area, eastern China,” Environ. Earth Sci. 74 (6), 4763–4769 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4459-7
X. Wei, M. Shao, W. Gale, and L. Li, “Global pattern of soil carbon losses due to the conversion of forests to agricultural land,” Sci. Rep. 4, 1062 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04062
H.-C. Ye, Y.-F. Huang, P.-F. Chen, W.-J. Huang, S.‑W. Zhang, S.-Y. Huang, and S. Hou, “Effects of land use change on the spatiotemporal variability of soil organic carbon in an urban-rural ecotone of Beijing, China,” J. Integr. Agric. 15 (4), 918–928 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/S2095-3119(15)61066-8
Y. Q. Luo, R. Sherry, X. Zhou, and S. Q. Wan, “Terrestrial carbon-cycle feedback to climate warming: experimental evidence on plant regulation and impacts of biofuel feedstock harvest,” Global Change Biol. Bioener. 1 (1), 62–74 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1757-1707.2008.01005.x
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors are grateful to the staff of the laboratory of Soil & Environmental sciences for soil sampling and analysis. We are also thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on the previous version of this paper.
Funding
This study was supported by the University of Poonch Rawalakot through promotion of research fund.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
The authors state that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tahir, M.M., Khalid, A.B., Mehmood, K. et al. Variations in Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Contents under Different Land Uses in Sub-Temperate Highland of Azad Kashmir. Eurasian Soil Sc. 54, 586–596 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229321040153
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229321040153