Effect of Land Use on Plant Nutrient Availability and Soil Carbon Stock of Mokonisa Machi Watershade, Dugda Dawa Woreda, West Guji Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Various land use practices have a different influence on soil degradation on both physical and chemical property of soil as well as on soil carbon sequestration capacity. A small number of studies have studied the effects of land use on plant nutrient availability and soil carbon sequestration in Ethiopia. Therefore, current study was to explore the effects of land use on vegetation nutrient accessibility and soil carbon restoration. Methods: Further definitely the study pointed out the difference between various land use category on soil texture, soil pH, available phosphorus and exchangeable potassium and the implication the farming practices on soil carbon sequestration. Soil sample were collected from the upper 0-40 cm depth of forest land, cultivated land and grazing land. The soil texture was primarily clay and heavy clay textural class. Result: Along soil depth, bulk density (BD) increasing ranges from (1.12 to 1.27 g/cm in all sampling sites. Slight increase in pH was recorded with increase in soil depth in all land use system. The average total soil organic carbon stock forest, grazing and farm land was ranged between 95.2, 88.45 and 65.5 t/ha, respectively for surface soil and 93.3, 73.75, 62.5 respectively for sub surface soil. Soil organic carbon concentration and bulk density improvement are the most important management interventions to increase soil organic carbon storage capacity.