The effect of land use change on some biological characteristics of soil in the rangelands of Sohrein region, Zanjan province

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Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Soil Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

Nowadays, vast areas of rangelands have undergone land use changes, which can seriously threaten the fate of soil ecosystem health. In this research, the effect of land use change on some biological characteristics of soil was studied in the rangelands of the Sohrein region in Zanjan province. A factorial experiment in a completely randomized design was conducted, and 24 soil samples were collected from three land uses: rangeland areas, areas converted from rangeland to farmlands less than ten years ago, and areas converted over 30 years ago at two depths 0-15 and 15-30 cm. The results showed that basal soil microbial respiration, substrate-induced respiration, microbial biomass, activities of urease, acid and alkaline phosphatase enzymes, soil organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, carbon to nitrogen ratio, and microbial quotient were higher in rangelands compared to other land uses. The population of phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms was higher in farmlands with more than 30 years of cultivation than in other land uses. Higher values of metabolic and microbial respiration quotients, which indicate ecological disorders, were observed in farmlands with less than ten years of cultivation. As a result, changes in land use have put pressure on ecosystem performance, leading to a decline in soil biological quality. In the long term, the conversion of rangelands to agricultural lands has improved soil biological conditions, although there remains a notable deviation from its original and ideal state.

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Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 25 September 2024

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