Differences in Selected Soil Physical Properties along Three Toposequences in Ohafia, Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

Some physical properties of soils were studied along three toposequences in Ohafia area in Abia State, Southeast Nigeria. Transect technique was used to align soil profiles cutting across three major units of summit, midslope and footslope. Soil particle sizes, soil bulk density and soil total porosity were evaluated in each of the topographic units. Coefficient of variation was used to estimate differences among these soil properties along the toposequence. Results indicated low variation (less than 15% coefficient of variation) except in silt content of midslope soils. There were differences in the thickness of horizons with increasing thickness towards footslope in all toposequences. The percentage of sand was highest at the summit and decreases towards the footslope while the values of silt, clay and total porosity were highest at the footslope and decreases towards the summit. Therefore appropriate agronomic practices are recommended for improvement of soil physical properties and at the summit.