scholarly journals Evaluating the Effects of Human Activity over the Last Decades on the Soil Organic Carbon Pool Using Satellite Imagery and GIS Techniques in the Nile Delta Area, Egypt

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsayed Mohamed ◽  
Mohamed Abu-hashim ◽  
Mohamed AbdelRahman ◽  
Brigitta Schütt ◽  
Rosa Lasaponara

The study aims to clarify the relationship between soil organic carbon (SOC) and human activity under arid conditions, in the east area of the Nile Delta, Egypt. SOC is one of the critical factors in food production and plays an important role in the climate change because it affects the physio-chemical soil characteristics, plant growth, and contributes to sustainable development on global levels. For the purpose of our investigations, 120 soil samples (0–30 cm) were collected throughout different land uses and soil types of the study area. Multiple linear regressions (MLR) were used to investigate the spatiotemporal relationship of SOC, soil characteristics, and environmental factors. Remote sensing data acquired from Landsat 5 TM in July 1995 and operational land imager (OLI) in July 2018 were used to model SOC pool. The results revealed significant variations of soil organic carbon pool (SOCP) among different soil textures and land-uses. Soil with high clay content revealed an increase in the percentage of soil organic carbon, and had mean SOCP of 6.08 ± 1.91 Mg C ha−1, followed by clay loams and loamy soils. The higher values of SOCP were observed in the northern regions of the study area. The phenomenon is associated with the expansion of the human activity of initiating fish ponds that reflected higher values of SOC that were related to the organic additions used as nutrients for fish. Nevertheless, the SOC values decreased in southeast of the study area with the decrease of soil moisture contents and the increase in the heavy texture profiles. As a whole, our findings pointed out that the human factor has had a significant impact on the variation of soil organic carbon values in the Eastern Nile Delta from 1995 to 2018. As land use changes from agricultural activity to fish ponds, the SOCP significantly increased. The agriculture land-use revealed higher SOCP with 60.77 Mg C ha−1 in clay soils followed by fish ponds with 53.43 Mg C ha−1. The results also showed a decrease in SOCP values due to an increasing in land surface temperature (LST) thus highlighting that influence of temperature and ambient soil conditions linked to land-use changes have a marked impact on surface SOCP and C sequestration.

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-22
Author(s):  
M.K. Gupta ◽  
S. Sharma

Soil Organic Carbon has been ignored since long because it was treated as a dead biomass. After the awareness of climate change, its importance has been recognized worldwide. Therefore, this study was conducted in four land uses viz. Forests, Plantations, Horticulture and Agroforestry in Yamunanagar district of Haryana. Over all, fifty nine numbers of sampling sites (Four hundred and fourteen soil samples) were selected in all land uses from the district. Variation in the number of samples was due to difference in area available under particular land uses. In Yamunanagar district, maximum SOC pool was under Forests (51.05 t ha-1) followed by Plantations (35.32 t ha-1), Horticulture (33.58 t ha-1) and the least was under Agroforestry (29.22 t ha-1). SOC pool under Forests was 44.54 %, 52.03% and 74.71% higher as compared to Plantations, Horticulture and Agroforestry land uses respectively. SOC pool under Plantations was marginally higher as compared to Horticulture (5.18 %) while it was 20.88 % higher in comparison to Agroforestry. Organic carbon pool in the soils under Horticulture land use was 14.92 % higher as compared to soils under Agroforestry land use. When SOC pool under different land uses were tested by one - way ANOVA, it was found that SOC pool under all land uses were significantly different. SOC pool under Forests was statistically significantly different with the SOC pool under Plantation, Agroforestry and Horticulture. Results of one - way ANOVA indicates that SOC pool between the different plantations was significantly different at 0.05 level.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Mohawesh ◽  
A. Taimeh ◽  
F. Ziadat

Abstract. Land degradation resulting from improper land use and management is a major cause of declined productivity in the arid environment. The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of a sequence of land use changes, soil conservation measures, and the time since their implementation on the degradation of selected soil properties. The climate for the selected 105 km2 watershed varies from semi-arid sub-tropical to Mediterranean sub-humid. Land use changes were detected using aerial photographs acquired in 1953, 1978, and 2008. A total of 218 samples were collected from 40 sites in three different rainfall zones to represent different land use changes and different lengths of time since the construction of stone walls. Analyses of variance were used to test the differences between the sequences of land use changes (interchangeable sequences of forest, orchards, field crops, and range), the time since the implementation of soil conservation measures, and rainfall on the thickness of the A-horizon, soil organic carbon content, and texture. Soil organic carbon reacts actively with different combinations and sequences of land use changes. The time since stone walls were constructed showed significant impacts on soil organic carbon and the thickness of the surface horizon. The effects of changing the land use and whether the changes were associated with the construction of stone walls, varied according to the annual rainfall. The results help in understanding the effects of land use changes on land degradation processes and carbon sequestration potential and in formulating sound soil conservation plans.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebrahem M. Eid ◽  
Farahat S. Moghanm ◽  
Kamal H. Shaltout

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thangavel Ramesh ◽  
Nanthi S. Bolan ◽  
Mary Beth Kirkham ◽  
Hasintha Wijesekara ◽  
Manjaiah Kanchikerimath ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dedy Antony ◽  
Jo Clark ◽  
Chris Collins ◽  
Tom Sizmur

<p>Soils are the largest terrestrial pool of organic carbon and it is now known that as much as 50% of soil organic carbon (SOC) can be stored below 30 cm. Therefore, knowledge of the mechanisms by which soil organic carbon is stabilised at depth and how land use affects this is important.</p><p>This study aimed to characterise topsoil and subsoil SOC and other soil properties under different land uses to determine the SOC stabilisation mechanisms and the degree to which SOC is vulnerable to decomposition. Samples were collected under three different land uses: arable, grassland and deciduous woodland on a silty-clay loam soil and analysed for TOC, pH, C/N ratio and texture down the first one metre of the soil profile. Soil organic matter (SOM) physical fractionation and the extent of fresh mineral surfaces were also analysed to elucidate SOM stabilisation processes.</p><p>Results showed that soil texture was similar among land uses and tended to become more fine down the soil profile, but pH did not significantly change with soil depth. Total C, total N and C/N ratio decreased down the soil profile and were affected by land use in the order woodland > grassland > arable. SOM fractionation revealed that the free particulate organic matter (fPOM) fraction was significantly greater in both the topsoil and subsoil under woodland than under grassland or arable. The mineral associated OC (MinOC) fraction was proportionally greater in the subsoil compared to topsoil under all land uses: arable > grassland > woodland. Clay, Fe and Mn availability play a significant role (R<sup>2</sup>=0.87) in organic carbon storage in the top 1 m of the soil profile.</p><p>It is evidently clear from the findings that land use change has a significant effect on the dynamics of the SOC pool at depth, related to litter inputs to the system.</p>


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