Soil Structure Stability under Different Land Uses in Association with Polyacrylamide Effects

Amrakh I. Mamedov, Atsushi Tsunekawa, Nigussie Haregeweyn, Mitsuru Tsubo, Haruyuki Fujimaki, Takayuki Kawai, Birhanu Kebede, Temesgen Mulualem, Getu Abebe, Anteneh Wubet and Guy J. Levy
Additional contact information
Amrakh I. Mamedov: Arid Land Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori 668-0001, Japan
Atsushi Tsunekawa: Arid Land Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori 668-0001, Japan
Nigussie Haregeweyn: International Platform for Dryland Research and Education, Tottori University, Tottori 668-0001, Japan
Mitsuru Tsubo: Arid Land Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori 668-0001, Japan
Haruyuki Fujimaki: Arid Land Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori 668-0001, Japan
Takayuki Kawai: Arid Land Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori 668-0001, Japan
Birhanu Kebede: The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tottori University, Tottori 680-8553, Japan
Temesgen Mulualem: College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar P.O. Box 1289, Ethiopia
Getu Abebe: The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tottori University, Tottori 680-8553, Japan
Anteneh Wubet: College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar P.O. Box 1289, Ethiopia
Guy J. Levy: Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, ARO, Rishon LeZion 7505101, Israel

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Soil structural stability is a vital aspect of soil quality and functions, and of maintaining sustainable land management. The objective of this study was to compare the contribution of four long-term land-use systems (crop, bush, grass, and forest) coupled with anionic polyacrylamide (PAM = 0, 25, and 200 mg L −1 ) application on the structural stability of soils in three watersheds of Ethiopia varying in elevation. Effect of treatments on soil structural stability indices were assessed using the high energy moisture characteristic (HEMC, 0–50 hPa) method, which provides (i) water retention model parameters α and n , and (ii) soil structure index (SI). Soil (watershed), land use and PAM treatments had significant effects on the shape of the water retention curves (α, n ) and SI, with diverse changes in the macropore sizes (60–250; >250 μm). Soil organic carbon (SOC) content and SI were strongly related to soil pH, CaCO 3 soil type-clay mineralogy, exchangeable Ca 2+ , and Na + (negatively). The order of soil SI (0.013–0.064 hPa −1 ) and SOC (1.4–8.1%) by land use was similar (forest > grass > bush > cropland). PAM effect on increasing soil SI (1.2–2.0 times), was inversely related to SOC content, being also pronounced in soils from watersheds of low (Vertisol) and medium (Luvisol) elevation, and the cropland soil from high (Acrisol) elevation. Treating cropland soils with a high PAM rate yielded greater SI (0.028–0.042 hPa −1 ) than untreated bush- and grassland soils (0.021–0.033 hPa −1 ). For sustainable management and faster improvement in soil physical quality, soil properties, and land-use history should be considered together with PAM application.

Keywords: land use; soil organic carbon; structure stability; soil type; polyacrylamide; dryland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1407/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1407/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:1407-:d:489373

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().