Variation in Soil Physico-Chemical Properties in Temperate Forests of Khatling Valley, Western Himalaya, India

Abstract

The current study seeks to understand the physico-chemical properties of soil along different altitude in Khatling valley of Western Himalaya. Four sites were examined for different physico-chemical characteristics between 1500-3500m amsl. The investigation found that the soils at all of the study sites were acidic and had a sandy loam texture. The range of the water holding capacity and moisture content values across the research area was 35.59±4.22 to 38.91±3.97% and 14.77±0.12 to 17.39±1.13% respectively. In the studied area the values for total nitrogen ranged from 0.19±0.02 to 0.37±0.04%, available phosphorus (10.23±2.45 to 15.97±2.63kg ha-1), available potassium (122.95±17.58 to 212.90±19.67kg ha-1), organic carbon (0.92±0.35 to 3.09±0.63%) and organic matter (1.58±0.60 to 5.32±1.09%) respectively. Organic carbon and total nitrogen displayed a positive correlation with altitude (r = 0.992 and r = 0.865, respectively) but a negative correlation with soil depth. In contrast, there was a negative association between altitude and the amounts of available phosphorus (r = -0.941) and potassium (r = -0.941). The available phosphorus indicates a positive relation with the depth of soil, whereas available potassium did not exhibit a consistent pattern with depth. This finding of this study suggest that soil physico-chemical properties vary with altitude and soil depth.