Slope Position and Land Use Effect on Select Soil Properties, Quality and Carbon Stock in Surface Soils at Afaka Forest Area, Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria | Chapter 03 | Current Research in Science and Technology Vol. 2
Population increase and the need to
achieve food security; especially in Nigeria, necessitated encroachment into
forests and marginal lands for agricultural land uses in the Savanna ecologies.
However, tropical soils are inherently fragile and prone to rapid degradation
under intensive agriculture; especially when soil cover is removed and the soil
tilled conventionally. Also, Savanna Alfisols are low in inherent fertility,
organic matter, cation exchange capacity, dominated by low activity clays and
sesquioxides. The increasing incidence of soil degradation and nutrient
impoverishment of the savanna ecologies resulted in decreasing soil quality,
agricultural production and increasing farmer food insecurity that generated
interest in the need to evaluate effect of slope and Land use on soil
properties, quality and carbon stock on Afaka soils in Nigerian Guinea Savanna.
Data generated were analyzed using ANOVA and significant means were determined
using Duncan multiple range test (DMRT). Results obtained reveal that
cultivation activities and erosion accounted for increased silt (19.10 %) in
cultivated areas than forest areas (14.89%), while sand fractions (54.44%)
dominate separates in the Forest and the cultivated land uses. Upper slope
positions had the highest sand content (71.67%), followed by lower slope with
68.00%, then middle (67.67%) slopes. Silt contents at the middle slope
positions were significantly higher than at upper (15.33%) and Lower slope
Position (17.00%) and clay values increased in the lower slope terrains. Also,
organic carbon varied significantly between the land use types and slope
position on the toposequence. At the forest areas, organic carbon was 10.2 gkg-1
and higher significantly than Cultivated fields (8.2 gkg-1). At the
upper slope fields under cultivation, organic carbon value was 8.7 gkg-1
and was significantly lower than Middle slope (9.60 gkg-1) and Lower
slope terrains (6.30 gkg-1). Under Forest land use also, Middle
slope terrains had significantly higher organic carbon content than Upper slope
terrains. The high Carbon stock of the forest middle slope terrain (1.77 tCha-1),
followed by forest land use type would discourage global warming and climate
change within the Afaka environment However, carbon stock in forest Land use
type in Afaka areas (1.41 tCha-1) was significantly higher than
cultivated land use types (1.21 tCha-1). At cultivated slope
terrains, middle slopes retained significantly higher SOC (1.37 tCha-1)
than upper and lower slope terrains. Considering soils for prime quality, soils
under forest lower slope terrain ranked best quality (SQ1; prime quality) for
sustainable cultivation purposes, followed by cultivated middle slope and
forest land use type that ranked SQ2. Cultivated upper slope soils ranked least
(SQ6) in quality for use in crop production, while cultivated lower slope and
cultivated land use type soils ranked SQ5. However, increasing loss of forests
to intensive cultivation activities without adequate soil management practices
would portend increase in global warming and climate change in the study area.
Author(s) Details
Prof. Odunze Azubuike
Chidowe
Department of Soil Science,
Faculty of Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
Hamza Haruna
Department of Soil Science,
Faculty of Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
E. Y. Oyinlola
Department of Soil Science,
Faculty of Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
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