Soil quality assessment is valuable for evaluating agroecosystem sustainability, soil degradation, and identifying sustainable land management practices. This study compared soil quality within culturally protected forest areas and adjacent grassland, grazing land, and farmland in Abo-Wonsho, Southern Ethiopia. A total of 40 soil samples (4 land uses × 5 replications × 2 soil depth layers: 0 to 10 cm and 10 to 20 cm) were collected for analysis. Soil textural fractions (i.e., sand, silt, and clay percentage) varied with land use and soil depths even though the textural class across all land use types was sandy loam. Bulk density, soil organic carbon (SOC), and available potassium (K) varied significantly: <svg style="vertical-align:-0.1638pt;width:66.875px;" id="M1" height="11.375" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 66.875 11.375" width="66.875" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <g transform="matrix(.017,-0,0,-.017,.062,11.112)"><path id="x1D443" d="M619 482q0 -69 -40.5 -119t-96 -72.5t-118.5 -26.5h-44l-70 20l-31 -151q-14 -67 0.5 -83t89.5 -22l-5 -28h-287l8 28q65 7 81.5 22t29.5 83l79 398q12 56 0.5 70.5t-78.5 20.5l7 28h255q108 0 164 -43t56 -125zM524 478q0 141 -146 141q-25 0 -47 -8q-16 -6 -20.5 -13.5
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