The effect of land use on soil Physicochemical and biological characteristics in the west of Mazandaran province

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Range Management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University. Noor. Iran

2 Department of Wood and Paper Science and Technology, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran.

3 Department of forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor.Iran

Abstract

Destruction of vegetation and land use change can have significant effects on the variability of soil characteristics. Based on this, the present research was conducted to study the change of land covers on the characteristics of the soil surface layer in Kohpar Nowshahr, Mazandaran province. For this purpose, different soil characteristics in land cover (Carpinus orientalis Miller.), Crataegus (Crataegus microphylla C. Koch.) and barberry (Berberis integerrima Bunge.), Rangeland with the dominance of Agropyrom longyaristatum species, Rangeland with The dominance of Cousinia commutate species, has been studied in Kohper research station. Therefore, three plots of one hectare (100 m x 100 m) were selected in each of the studied habitats. In each of the plots, 4 samples were taken from the surface layer of the soil (surface 30 cm x 30 cm, 10 cm depth) and a total of 12 soil samples from each of the studied habitats were taken to the laboratory for analysis. The results indicated the significant effects of different land uses on most physical, chemical and biological characteristics of soil; So that the highest values of the characteristics of soil stability, clay content, pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, magnesium, fine-root and corse-root biomass, fulvic and humic acids and earthworms, acarina, nematodes, protozoa, fungi and bacterial populations and microbial characteristics were observed in the soil of Carpinus, Crataegus and barberry vegetation.The results of this research confirm that land cover Carpinus, Crataegus and barberry vegetation can lead to the maintenance of soil quality indicators in the semi-arid mountainous regions of the north of the country.

Keywords

Main Subjects


EXTENDED ABSTRACT

 

Introduction

Destruction of vegetation and land use change can have significant effects on the variability of soil characteristics. Physical, chemical and biological processes of the soil affect different layers of the soil. There are few reports of soil quality investigation in different land coners. Therefore, the present research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of forest, rangeland covers on soil characteristics in a semi-arid climate (which has habitats with sensitive and fragile conditions).

Materials and Methods

     In the present study, the effect land cover (Carpinus orientalis Miller.), Crataegus (Crataegus microphylla C. Koch.) and barberry (Berberis integerrima Bunge.), Rangeland with the dominance of Agropyrom longyaristatum species, Rangeland with The dominance of Cousinia commutate species on some soil characteristics has been studied in Kohper research station, Nowshahr city. In order to carry out this research, 4 samples were taken from the mineral layer of the soil (surface 30 cm x 30 cm, 10 cm depth) and were taken to the laboratory for analysis. One-way analysis of variance test was used to check the presence or absence of significant values of different soil characteristics in relation to the different types of covers studied. Determining the relationship between different soil characteristics in the studied covers was done using principal component analysis (PCA).

Results and Discussion

     The results indicated the significant effects of different land covers on soil characteristics. According to the findings of this research, the types of different covers studied caused changes in most of the soil quality characteristics. So that the highest values of the characteristics of soil stability, clay, macro-aggregate and micro-aggregate, pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, magnesium, coarse root and fine root biomass, urease enzyme, Invertase, acid phosphatase, aryl sulfatase, fulvic and humic acids, and Earthworms, acarina, nematodes, protozoa, fungi and bacterial populations and microbial characteristics were observed in the soil of Carpinus, Crataegus and barberry vegetation. The characteristics of organic matter, Particle density and soil silt did not show statistically significant differences among the habitats under study. According to the results of PCA analysis, the amount of organic matter, clay, fulvic and humic acids and the stability of soil of the lower part of Carpinus species had an effective role in increasing the soil microbial contribution of this type of cover compared to other covers.

Conclusions

     The results of this research confirm that cover Carpinus, Crataegus and barberry vegetation can lead to the maintenance of soil quality indicators in the semi-arid mountainous regions of the north of the country. In this regard, it is suggested to rehabilitate the degraded lands in the study area as well as areas with similar ecological conditions, along with other native covers of the area, special attention should be paid to the use of Carpinus, Crataegus and barberry vegetation for soil protection.

Author Contributions

Yahya Kooch: Conceptualization, Supervision, Project Administration, Software, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing. Atefeh Shahpiri: Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Formal Analysis, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft. Halime Joloro: Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Formal Analysis, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft. Katayoun Haghverdi: Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Software. Mahmood Tavakoli FaizabadI: Methodology, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing.

Data Availability Statement

Data will be made available on request.

Acknowledgements

Hereby, we extend our thanks and appreciation to Tarbiat Modares University for providing the necessary facilities for conducting this research.

Ethical considerations

The authors avoided data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and misconduct.

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