Assessment of Properties of Alfisols as Affected by Land use in Minna, Southern Guinea of Nigeria

Select Volume / Issue:

• Volume 1,Issue 2,March. 2014

Year:

2014

Type of Publication:

Article

Keywords:

Arable Farmland, Land Use, Soil Properties, Teak Plantation

Authors:

Tsado, P. A.; Lawal, B. A.; Ezenwa, M. I. S.

Journal:

IJRAS

Volume:

1

Number:

2

Pages:

82-86

Month:

March

ISSN:

2348-–3

Note:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Abstract:

To assess the land use effects on soil properties, this study examined the profile variations in the morphological, physical and chemical characteristics of an Alfisols as affected by land use systems. Soil profiles from arable farmland and teak plantation were described. The surface color of the soils was grayish brown (10YR 5/2) in arable farmland and very dark grey (10YR 3/1) in teak plantation over various shades of brown in the subsurface horizons. Particle size analysis showed that sand particle was the dominant mineral fraction in soils of the two land use types studied and its content decreased down the profiles. Soils of the two land use types showed evidence of clay migration from surface to horizons below with higher contents in teak plantation than arable farmland. The soil pH was moderately to slightly acidic irrespective of the land use type studied. Organic carbon and total nitrogen values of these soils were lower in subsurface horizons and decreased with depth. Available phosphorus was moderate in arable farmland and low in teak plantation with mean values of 11 and 7 mg kg-1 respectively. Values for exchangeable bases (Ca, Mg and K) were lower in teak plantation compared to arable farmland and appeared in the order of Ca > Mg > K in terms of abundance. Higher value of exchangeable acidity (1.16-1.80 cmol(+) kg-1) were observed in the horizons of teak plantation, thus indicative of the deteriorative effect of trees on the soil properties. The ECEC of these soils were also found to be low.

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