Abstract
This study was conducted to compare soil particle density (ρs), soil total porosity (TP), liquid limit (LL), plastic limit (PL), and plasticity index, and their relations with soil organic matter (SOM), of non-carbonate silty clay Fluvisols under different land uses. Three neighboring land uses were studied: native deciduous forest, arable land, and meadow, managed in the same way for more than 100 years. Soil was collected from 27 soil profiles and from three depths (0–15, 15–30 and 30–45 cm). Land use caused statistically significant but different impacts on soil properties, particularly in the topsoil. The forest topsoil measured the lowest ρs and bulk density (ρb) but the highest SOM and soil water content at PL, compared to meadow and arable soil. Statistically significant linear relationship was observed with the SOM content and ρs (− 0.851**), ρb (− 0.567**), calculated TP (0.567**) and measured TP (− 0.280**). There was a nonlinear relationship between SOM and LL (0.704**) and PL (0.845**) at the topsoil. The findings suggested that SOM content strongly affected ρs, ρb, TP, LL and LP. This regional study showed that the conversion of forestland into agricultural land without appropriate measures to conserve SOM leads to the degradation of physical and rheological soil properties.
Highlights
This study was conducted to compare soil particle density, soil total porosity (TP), liquid limit (LL), plastic limit (PL), and plasticity index, and their relations with soil organic matter (SOM), of non-carbonate silty clay Fluvisols under different land uses
The different land use systems had a significant effect on SOM, ρs, ρb, TP and plastic limits of the silty clay soil
The data presented suggest that the soil organic matter losses after deforestation at 0–45 cm depth decreased for 26% under meadow and for 32% under arable soil, compared with forest
Summary
This study was conducted to compare soil particle density (ρs), soil total porosity (TP), liquid limit (LL), plastic limit (PL), and plasticity index, and their relations with soil organic matter (SOM), of non-carbonate silty clay Fluvisols under different land uses. The findings suggested that SOM content strongly affected ρs, ρb, TP, LL and LP This regional study showed that the conversion of forestland into agricultural land without appropriate measures to conserve SOM leads to the degradation of physical and rheological soil properties. The conversion of forests into meadows and arable land reduces soil organic carbon pools[1,9] The effect of this reduced SOM on ρs has not been well documented in the literature but the general assumption is that any change in ρs would be negligible[6], which might not be exact. Characterization of ρs for different soil management practices, with variable SOM of the same soil, is a priority area of research because ρs variations due to different land uses, in cases where soil properties are assessed based on ρs, are seldom quantified in the literature[6]
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