Abstract
A study was conducted in Galessa-Jeldu areas to evaluate soil pH, organic C, total N, available P and exchangeable bases under four indigenous and one exotic tree species, and to examine the correlation between the different soil properties. The tree and shrub species included in the study were Senecio gigas Vatke, Hagenia abyssinica (Bruce) J.F. Gmel., Dombeya torrida (J.F. Gmel.) P. Bamps, Buddleja polystachya Fres. and Chamaecytisus palmensis (Christ) Bisby and K. The first four are indigenous, while the last one is an exotic N-fixing species. The soil pH values under H. abyssinica and S. gigas were above 6.34 as compared to the soil pH values under C. palmensis, D. torrida and B. polystachya. Total N was slightly higher under H. abyssinica although not statisticallydifferent with the N content under other species. Organic C was higher under H. abyssinica than under B. polystachya. The variation for exchangeable K was more at 0-15 cm soil depth than at the 15-30 and 30-50 cm soil depths. The correlation between soil pH and total N as well as pH and organic C was positive in almost all thehorizontal positions. Hagenia abyssinica, S. gigas and C. palmensis are some of the potential species that can be evaluated in different land-use systems of the high altitude areas to protect the loss of plant nutrients. Keywords: High Altitude; Total N; Organic C; Exchangeable Bases; Soil Fertility; Nutrient Cycling
Highlights
High human and livestock population, a decline of forest resources and soil fertility depletion are some of the features of the highlands of central Ethiopia (ICRAF, 1990; German et al, 2005; Amare et al, 2006)
The following model was considered while running the analysis of variance (ANOVA): Yij = μ + αi + βj + eij, (3) where μ is the overall mean, αi the i th treatment effect, βj the j th block effect and eij is the random error associated with Yij
Cation Exchange Capacity The CEC values under H. abyssinica and S. gigas were higher at the three soil depths of all the horizontal positions (Figure 2)
Summary
High human and livestock population, a decline of forest resources and soil fertility depletion are some of the features of the highlands of central Ethiopia (ICRAF, 1990; German et al, 2005; Amare et al, 2006). Homesteads in the high altitude (> 2900 m.a.s.l) areas of central Ethiopia have a better tree and shrub species composition than farmlands (Kindu et al, 2006a). Farmers in the high altitude areas highly recognize Hagenia abyssinica, Dombeya torrida and Senecio gigas as important indigenous soil improving tree and shrub species (Kindu et al, 2006a). Studies on soil properties under farmers’ recognized indigenous tree and shrub species around homesteads are limited in the high altitude areas. Cognizant to the research gap, a study was conducted from 2004 to 2006 (a) to evaluate soil pH, organic C, total N, available P, exchangeable bases under four indigenous and an exotic tree species; and (b) to examine correlations between the different soil properties
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