Effects of Land Use and Land Cover changes on Soil Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen Stocks in the Olesharo Catchment, Narok County, Kenya
الموضوعات :Bernice Sainepo 1 , Charles Gachene 2 , Anne Karuma 3
1 - Department of LARMAT, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
2 - Department of LARMAT, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
3 - Department of LARMAT, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nairobi, Nairobi , Kenya
الکلمات المفتاحية: Climate Change, Soil carbon stocks, Land use and land cover changes,
ملخص المقالة :
Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC) is the most prominent cause of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) variability in any landscape. Kenyan Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) have been facing extensive land use/ cover changes in the last three decades prompting a review on the impacts it has on soil quality and consequently on land degradation. This study was carried out in 2016 in Olesharo Catchment, Narok County, one of the prominent ASALs of Kenya. The main objective of the study was to study how the different lands use types within the catchment affects SOC and Total Nitrogen (TN) stocks in the catchment. Using LandSat imageries, four land use types were identified: Shrubland (SH), Agricultural Land (AG), Grasslands (GR) and BareLands (BL). Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were taken from 30 x 30m plots randomly distributed for each of the Land use type (LUT) at 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm depths for the analysis of SOC/ and TN stocks. The study showed that the means of SOC in land use types were significantly different (P<0.05). Shrublands registered the highest mean total of 31.26 Mg C ha-1 which was significantly higher than GR (13.54 Mg C ha-1) and BL (12.85 Mg C ha-1). In terms of TN mean values, SH was the highest (4.22 Mg N ha-1) while BL was the lowest (1.6 Mg N ha-1). Similarly, the mean SOC and TN stocks in the surface layers (21.38 Mg N ha-1) were significantly higher than the sub-surface (18.74 Mg N ha-1) layers indicative of the stocks decreased as depth increased. The results suggest that land use types have influence on soil properties and their management can contribute to sustainable land management to mitigate negative effects of climate change.
Allen, D.E., Pringle, M.J., Page, K.L. and Dalal, R.C., 2010. A review of sampling designs for the measurement of soil organic carbon in Australian grazing lands. The Rangeland Jour., 32(2), pp.227-246.
Batjes, N.H., 2004. Soil carbon stocks and projected changes according to land use and management: a case study for Kenya. Soil Use and Management, 20(3): 350-356.
Batlle-Aguilar, J., Brovelli, A., Porporato, A. and Barry, D.A., 2010. Modelling soil carbon and nitrogen cycles during land use change. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development.
Batlle-Bayer, L., Batjes, N.H. and Bindraban, P.S., 2010. Changes in organic carbon stocks upon land use conversion in the Brazilian Cerrado: a review. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 137(1): 47-58.
Bremner, J.M. and Mulvaney, C.S., 1982. Nitrogen total. Methods of soil analysis. Part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties, (methods of soil an2). American Society of Agronomy, pp.595-624.
Chivenge, P.P., Murwira, H.K., Giller, K.E., Mapfumo, P. and Six, J., 2007. Long-term impact of reduced tillage and residue management on soil carbon stabilization: Implications for conservation agriculture on contrasting soils. Soil and Tillage Research, 94(2), pp.328-337.
Dabasso, B.H., Taddese, Z. and Hoag, D., 2014. Carbon stocks in semi-arid pastoral ecosystems of northern Kenya. Pastoralism, 4(1), p.5.
Day, P.R. and Luthin, J.N., 1956. A numerical solution of the differential equation of flow for a vertical drainage problem. Soil Science Society of America Jour., 20(4): 443-447.
Demessie, A., Singh, B.R. and Lal, R., 2013. Soil carbon and nitrogen stocks under chronosequence of farm and traditional agroforestry land uses in Gambo District, Southern Ethiopia. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 95(3), pp.365-375.
Derner, J.D., Boutton, T.W. and Briske, D.D., 2006. Grazing and ecosystem carbon storage in the North American Great Plains. Plant and Soil, 280(1): 77-90.
Frank, D.A., Evans, R.D. and Tracy, B.F., 2004. The role of ammonia volatilization in controlling the natural 15N abundance of a grazed grassland. Biogeochemistry, 68(2): 69-178.
Franzluebbers, A.J., 2010. Soil organic carbon in managed pastures of the south-eastern United States of America. Grassland Carbon Sequestration: Management, Policy and Economics. Integrated Crop Manage, 11: 163-175.
Fu, X., Shao, M., Wei, X. and Horton, R., 2010. Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen as affected by vegetation types in Northern Loess Plateau of China. Geoderma, 155(1): 31-35.
Gachene, C, K., 2014. Characterization and assessment of erodibility indexes of Suswa andosols. (Unpublished report).
Galloway, J.N., Townsend, A.R., Erisman, J.W., Bekunda, M., Cai, Z., Freney, J.R., Martinelli, L.A., Seitzinger, S.P. and Sutton, M.A., 2008. Transformation of the nitrogen cycle: recent trends, questions, and potential solutions. Science, 320: 889-892.
Jaeztold, R., Helmut Schmidt, H., Dr. Berthold Hornetz, B., and Shisanya, C., 2010. Farm Management Handbook of Kenya vol. II Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya
Jobaggy, E.G. and Jackson, R.B., 2000. The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its relation to climate and vegetation. Ecological Applications, 10(2): 423-436.
Kamoni, P.T., Gicheru, P.T., Wokabi, S.M., Easter, M., Milne, E., Coleman, K., Falloon, P., Paustian, K., Killian, K. and Kihanda, F.M., 2007. Evaluation of two soil carbon models using two Kenyan long term experimental datasets. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 122(1): 95-104.
Khalif, Z., 2015. Sustainable land management in dry lands of Kenya: improving land productivity through participatory research and technology transfer. United National Development Programme (UNDP).
Konana, C., 2017. Drivers And Effects Of Gully Erosion On Communities In Suswa Catchment, Narok County, Kenya: A Geospatial Approach. (Unpublished report).
Kurgat, B.K., Golicha, D., Giese, M., Kuria, S.G. and Asch, F., 2011. Relationship between vegetation cover types and soil organic carbon in the rangelands of Northern Kenya. Germany: Hohenheim University. Open URL.
Lal, R., 2008. Sequestration of atmospheric CO 2 in global carbon pools. Energy & Environmental Science, 1(1): 86-100.
Li, Z.W., Nie, X.D., Chen, X.L., Lu, Y.M., Jiang, W.G. and Zeng, G.M., 2015. The effects of land use and landscape position on labile organic carbon and carbon management index in red soil hilly region, southern China. Jour. Mountain Science, 12(3): 626-636.
Mganga, K.Z., Musimba, N.K., Nyariki, D.M., Nyangito, M.M., Ekaya, W.N., Muiru, W.M. and Mwang’ombe, A.W., 2011. Different land use types in the semi-arid rangelands of Kenya influence soil properties. Jour. Soil Science and Environmental Management, Vol. 2(11), pp. 370-374
Mureithi, S.M., Verdoodt, A., Gachene, C.K., Njoka, J.T., Wasonga, V.O., De Neve, S., Meyerhoff, E. and Van Ranst, E., 2014. Impact of enclosure management on soil properties and microbial biomass in a restored semi-arid rangeland, Kenya. Jour. Arid Land, 6(5): 561-570.
Muya, E.M., Obanyi, S., Ngutu, M., Sijali, I.V., Okoti, M., Maingi, P.M. and Bulle, H., 2011. The physical and chemical characteristics of soils of Northern Kenya Arid lands: Opportunity for sustainable agricultural production. Jour. Soil Science and Environmental Management, 2(1): 1-8.
Nelson, D.W. and Sommers, L., 1982. Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. Methods of soil analysis. Part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties, (methods of soil an2), American Society of Agronomy, pp.539-579.
Nie, X.J., Zhao, T.Q. and Qiao, X.N., 2013. Impacts of soil erosion on organic carbon and nutrient dynamics in an alpine grassland soil. Soil Science and Pant Nutrition, 59(4): 660-668.
Ruto, A.C., 2015. Optimizing moisture and nutrient variability under different cropping patterns in terraced farms for improved crop performance in Narok County, Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi. Kenya.
Solomon, D., Lehmann, J. and Zech, W., 2000. Land use effects on soil organic matter properties of chromic luvisols in semi-arid northern Tanzania: carbon, nitrogen, lignin and carbohydrates. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 78(3): 203-213.
Stavi, I., Ungar, E.D., Lavee, H. and Sarah, P., 2008. Grazing-induced spatial variability of soil bulk density and content of moisture, organic carbon and calcium carbonate in a semi-arid rangeland. Catena, 75(3): 288-296.
Van der Werf, G.R., Morton, D.C., DeFries, R.S., Olivier, J.G., Kasibhatla, P.S., Jackson, R.B., Collatz, G.J. and Randerson, J.T., 2009. CO2 emissions from forest loss. Nature Geoscience, 2(11): 737-738.
Verdoodt, A., Mureithi, S.M. and Van Ranst, E., 2010. Impacts of management and enclosure age on recovery of the herbaceous rangeland vegetation in semi-arid Kenya. Jour. Arid Environments, 74(9): 1066-1073.
Were, K.O., Singh, B.R. and Dick, O.B., 2015. Effects of Land Cover Changes on Soil Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen Stocks in the Eastern Mau Forest Reserve, Kenya. In Sustainable Intensification to Advance Food Security and Enhance Climate Resilience in Africa (pp. 113-133). Springer International Publishing.
