American Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development
Articles Information
American Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, Vol.1, No.1, Dec. 2016, Pub. Date: Oct. 19, 2016
Integrated Effect of Slope Classes and Different Soil Depths on Soil Physico-chemical Properties of Watershed Ecosystem
Pages: 6-16 Views: 2342 Downloads: 1769
Authors
[01] Nnabude P. C., Department of Soil and Land Resource Management, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.
[02] Nweke I. A., Department of Soil Science, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Nigeria.
[03] Ekwealor K. U., Department of Soil and Land Resource Management, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.
Abstract
Watershed come in many different shapes and sizes and can be affected by many different activities and events. The quality of change of the activities either bad or good has being found to be influenced by slope and depth variations. Thus a field study was conducted to evaluate the soil properties of two contrasting watershed management systems using slope classes (slope 1, 34.8% gradient; slope 2, 29.6% gradient; slope 3, 23.8% gradient; slope 4, 0.52% gradient) and three different soil depths (0-15cm, 15-30cm, and 30-45cm) as an index of the study. The study of the watershed was laid out in an experiment arranged in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates data generated from the study were subjected to analysis of variance and significant means different were separated using least significant difference (LSD). The results of the study showed that slope classes and soil depths studied had significant (P<0.05) effect on the soil properties. The highest available P and TN were observed in slope 4 and 3 respectively. The variation in OC content show an order of slope 3 > slope 4 > slope 2 > slope 1. The lowest bulk density of 1.572gcm-3 was observed in slope 4 (plain). With regard to soil depth all the soil parameters showed decrease in value as soil depths increased, with the exception of clay, silt content and bulk density that increased with increasing soil depth. The highest recorded values for the chemical parameters tested were obtained from 0-15cm soil depth. The interaction effect of slope and soil depth result showed strong influence of the two indices on the soil properties. The slope gradient 4 (lower slope) with soil depth 0-15cm gave the highest value of OC (1.81gkg-1) and available P (20.1mgkg-1) as well as the lowest bulk density value (1.43gcm-3). Top soil depth values were greater in slope 4 with 0-15cm soil depth. The present study findings is of evidence that slope classes and soil depths are indices to be considered in the effective management of watershed as their cumulative effects influenced the productivity of the watershed.
Keywords
Slope, Soil Depth, Soil Physico-chemical Properties, Watershed
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