Effect of land-use types and topographic positions on soil physico-chemical properties in urago and mendi micro-watersheds, Becho District, Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Figures & data

Figure 1. Location map of the study micro-watersheds in Becho district of Central highlands of Ethiopia.

Figure 2. Rainfall and temperature records of the study area based on the records of nearby Tulu Bolo station (1990–2019) (Source: Ethiopian Meteorological Institute, 2021).

Table 1. Effects of land-use types and topographic positions on soil physical properties (mean ± standard error) in selected micro-watersheds of the Central Highlands of Ethiopia.

water-sheds	Factors	Classes	Sand (%)	Silt (%)	Clay (%)	Textural Class	BD (g cm-3)	Porosity (%)
Non-Conserved (Non cons.)	Topographic Positions	Lower	33.33 ± 2.53	26.13 ± 1.84^b	40.53 ± 2.74	Clay	1.23 ± 0.023	53.7 ± 1
		Middle	29.5 ± 2.2	32.5 ± 1.8^a	38 ± 3.53	Clay loam	1.18 ± 0.02	55.55 ± 0.67
		Upper	25.71 ± 1.48	34.29 ± 2.81^a	40 ± 3.73	Clay	1.24 ± 0.03	53.17 ± 1
		F-Value	2.289	4.43	0.162		1.105	1.224
		P-Value	0.121 ^ns	0.022**	0.852 ^ns		0.346 ^ns	0.31 ^ns
	Land use types	AG	24.92 ± 0.74^b	28.77 ± 1.46^ab	46.31 ± 1.74^a	Clay	1.22 + 0.03	53.86 + 0.97
		FL	38.8 ± 5.85^a	22.8 ± 2.24^b	38.4 ± 5.49^ab	Clay loam	1.2 ± 0.04	54.63 ± 1.35
		GL	30.8 ± 1.74^ab	34.8 ± 3.56^a	34.4 ± 4.45^ab	Clay loam	1.17 ± 0.02	55.8 ± 0.68
		F-Value	6.891	3.319	5.348		0.875	0.877
		P-Value	<0.001***	0.035**	0.005***		0.467 ^ns	0.466 ^ns
Conserved (Cons.)	Topographic Positions	Lower	35.2 ± 2.94	29.6 ± 3.82	35.2 ± 6.18	Clay loam	1.25 ± 0.05	52.67 ± 2.06
		Middle	34.67 ± 1.52	33.33 ± 2.54	32 ± 3.24	Clay loam	1.24 ± 0.03	53.08 ± 1.3
		Upper	33.69 ± 2.35	34.15 ± 1.46	32.15 ± 3.19	Clay loam	1.17 ± 0.03	56 ± 1.07
		F-Value	0.105	0.699	0.147		1.844	1.911
		P-Value	0.901 ^ns	0.506^ns	0.864 ^ns		0.178 ^ns	0.167 ^ns
	Land use types	AG	30.25 ± 2.19	27.5 ± 1.68^b	42.25 ± 2.89^a	Clay	1.22 ± 0.01	53.85 ± 0.34
		FL	37.6 ± 2.56	37 ± 2.01^a	25.4 ± 3.57^b	Loam	1.22 ± 0.06	53.95 ± 2.19
		GL	34.29 ± 1.87	36.57 ± 1.49^a	29.14 ± 1.62^ab	Clay loam	1.2 ± 0.04	54.6 ± 1.41
		F-Value	1.871	4.949	5.216		0.121	0.114
		P-Value	0.159 ^ns	0.008***	0.006***		0.947 ^ns	0.951 ^ns
Overall	Watersheds	Non-Cons.	30.53 ± 1.51	29.73 ± 1.37	39.73 ± 1.82^a	Clay loam	1.22 ± 0.02	54.07 ± 0.59
		Cons.	34.33 ± 1.25	33.07 ± 1.33	32.6 ± 2.08^b	Clay loam	1.21 ± 0.02	54.28 ± 0.8
		F-Value	3.757	3.048	6.644		0.36	0.42
		P-Value	0.057 ^ns	0.086 ^ns	0.013**		.850 ^ns	.838 ^ns

Note: AG = agricultural land; FL = forestland; GL = grassland; BD = bulk density. Means within a column followed by different letters are significantly different at P ≤ 0.05 with respect to topography and land use types, respectively (no letter if there are no significant differences), at each watershed. ns = not significant; *** = significant at p < 0.01; ** = significant at p < 0.05.; F = calculated value; p = probability.

Table 2. The interaction effect of topographic position and land use type on soil physico-chemical properties in selected micro-watersheds of the Central Highlands of Ethiopia.

Soil properties	Topography and Land use interaction effect
	Non-Conserved			Conserved
	Mean Square	F-value	P-Value	Mean Square	F-value	P-Value
Sand (%)	61.829	1.769	0.168	27.361	0.532	0.777
Silt (%)	23.071	0.538	0.745	22.987	0.545	0.768
Clay (%)	57.076	0.732	0.609	55.341	0.509	0.794
BD (g cm^-3)	0.007	0.993	0.448	0.018	1.431	0.257
Porosity (%)	10.536	1.000	0.444	25.812	1.454	0.249
pH (1:2.5)	0.306	0.793	0.568	0.594	4.031	0.01*
EC (ds/m)	0.002	0.593	0.705	0.003	1.477	0.242
SOC (%)	2.21	4.829	0.005**	0.771	0.469	0.822
TN (%)	0.013	4.363	0.008**	0.011	0.881	0.528
C:N ratio	1.606	0.683	0.642	6.882	1.705	0.177
Av.P (ppm)	0.195	0.057	0.993	3.756	0.445	0.81
CEC (Cmolc Kg^-1)	27.167	0.323	0.893	74.759	2.563	0.057
Na^+ (Cmolc Kg^-1)	0.009	0.318	0.896	0.116	2.864	0.039*
K^+ (Cmolc Kg^-1)	0.012	0.326	0.891	0.016	0.291	0.934
Ca^2+ (Cmolc Kg^-1)	12.903	0.079	0.995	173.594	3.832	0.012*
Mg^2+ (Cmolc Kg^-1)	2.739	1.144	0.372	0.965	0.282	0.938
PBS (%)	349.624	1.581	0.213	428.594	1.242	0.332

Note: Abbreviation is similar with the one defined under Tables 1 and 3.

Table 3. Effects of land-use types and topographic position on soil pH, EC, SOC, TN, C:N ratio, and Av. P (mean ± standard error) in selected micro-watersheds of the Central Highlands of Ethiopia.

Water sheds	Factors	Classes	pH (1:2.5)	EC (ds/m)	SOC (%)	TN (%)	C:N ratio	Av.P (ppm)
Non-Conserved	Topographic Position	Lower	6.88 + 0.21^a	0.17 + 0.02^a	2 + 0.32	0.17 + 0.02	11.73 + 0.41	3.67 + 0.64
		Middle	5.9 + 0.1^b	0.08 + 0.01^b	2.4 + 0.32	0.2 + 0.02	12.11 + 0.36	2.88 + 0.72
		Upper	5.6 + 0.1^b	0.08 + 0.01b	1.88 + 0.24	0.18 + 0.02	10.25 + 0.68	3.5 + 0.91
		F-Value	12.48	8.847	0.547	0.424	3.231	0.248
		P-Value	<0.001***	<0.001***	0.585^ns	0.659 ^ns	0.055 ^ns	0.782 ^ns
	Land use types	AG	6.17 + 0.26	0.11 + 0.02	1.62 + 0.18^b	0.15 + 0.01^b	10.79 + 0.47	5.13 + 0.58^a
		FL	6.62 + 0.27	0.16 + 0.04	3.09 + 0.57^a	0.25 + 0.05^a	12.56 + 0.5	2.28 + 0.51^b
		GL	5.96 + 0.25	0.11 + 0.03	2.66 + 0.44^ab	0.22 + 0.03^b	11.99 + 0.52	1.94 + 0.45^b
		F-Value	1.013	0.758	4.18	3.313	1.88	8.05
		P-Value	0.403 ^ns	0.528 ^ns	0.015**	0.036**	0.158 ^ns	<0.001***
Conserved	Topographic Position	Lower	7.02 + 0.35^a	0.17 + 0.04^a	2.48 + 0.94	0.2 + 0.06	11.83 + 0.8	3.93 + 1.58
		Middle	6.2 + 0.16^b	0.07 + 0.01^b	2.4 + 0.29	0.2 + 0.03	12.12 + 0.53	3.5 + 0.98
		Upper	5.87 + 0.08^b	0.09 + 0.02^b	2.76 + 0.34	0.24 + 0.04	12.5 + 0.83	1.48 + 0.29
		F-Value	9.558	7.299	0.243	0.303	0.16	1.86
		P-Value	<0.001***	0.003***	0.786 ^ns	0.741 ^ns	0.853 ^ns	0.179 ^ns
	Land use types	AG	6.01 + 0.29	0.11 + 0.03	1.68 + 0.15^b	0.16 + 0.02	11.02 + 0.27^b	3.22 + 0.78
		FL	6.25 + 0.19	0.11 + 0.02	3 + 0.43^ab	0.28 + 0.05	11.58 + 0.67^b	1.69 + 0.33
		GL	6.2 + 0.16	0.08 + 0.02	3.32 + 0.61^ab	0.24 + 0.04	13.88 + 1.09^a	4.15 + 1.63
		F-Value	0.338	0.548	3.342	2.489	2.894	1.413
		P-Value	0.798 ^ns	0.654^ns	0.035**	0.083 ^ns	0.054**	0.261 ^ns
Overall	watersheds	Non-Cons.	6.32 ± 0.15	0.12 + 0.01	2.08 + 0.19	0.18 + 0.01	11.49 + 0.3	3.46 + 0.43
		Cons.	6.19 ± 0.12	0.09 + 0.01	2.57 + 0.23	0.22 + 0.02	12.24 + 0.43	2.86 + 0.56
		F-Value	0.44	2.19	2.64	2.27	2.08	0.73
		P-Value	0.51 ^ns	0.14 ^ns	0.11 ^ns	0.14 ^ns	0.16 ^ns	0.4 ^ns

Note: AG = agricultural land; FL = forestland; GL = grassland; pH = soil reaction; EC = electrical conductivity; SOC = soil organic carbon; TN = total nitrogen; C: N = carbon nitrogen ratio; Av. P = available phosphorus. The remaining abbreviation is similar with the one defined under Table 1.

Table 4. Pearson correlation coefficients between soil properties in 0–30 cm depth in the studied micro-watersheds.

Soil properties	Sand (%)	Silt (%)	Clay (%)	BD (g cm-3)	Porosity (%)	pH (1:2.5)	EC (ds/m)	SOC (%)	TN (%)	C:N ratio	Av.P (ppm)	CEC	Na^+	K^+	Ca^2+	Mg^2+
Sand (%)	1
Silt (%)	0.076	1
Clay (%)	−.744**	−.723**	1
BD (g cm-3)	−0.191	−0.134	0.222	1
Porosity (%)	0.19	0.138	−0.224	−1.000**	1
pH (1:2.5)	0.149	−.439**	0.191	0.237	−0.242	1
EC (ds/m)	0.175	−.379**	0.133	0.054	−0.057	.615**	1
SOC (%)	.494**	.374**	−.593**	−.336**	.340**	−.299*	−0.051	1
TN (%)	.517**	.367**	−.604**	−.334**	.338**	−.355**	−0.085	.916**	1
C:N ratio	0.004	0.051	−0.038	−0.099	0.101	0.056	0.016	.296*	−0.048	1
Av.P (ppm)	−0.127	−0.131	0.176	0.11	−0.109	0.014	−0.003	−0.046	−0.052	−0.101	1
CEC (Cmolc Kg^-1)	−0.022	−.540**	.378**	0.149	−0.153	.791**	.654**	−0.183	−0.203	−0.016	0.013	1
Na^+ (Cmolc Kg^-1)	0.222	0.223	−.303*	0.045	−0.043	−0.203	−.303*	.379**	.296*	0.198	0.005	−.283*	1
K^+ (Cmolc Kg^-1)	−0.103	−0.018	0.084	−0.119	0.121	−0.068	−0.022	0.247	0.22	0.087	−.278*	0.024	−0.108	1
Ca^2+ (Cmolc Kg^-1)	0.142	−.506**	0.241	0.17	−0.175	.872**	.790**	−0.109	−0.161	0.071	−0.03	.903**	−0.218	0.043	1
Mg^2+ (Cmolc Kg^-1)	0.05	−.428**	0.252	0.154	−0.157	.406**	0.073	−0.019	−0.075	0.197	−0.106	.453**	0.152	0.016	.428**	1
PBS (%)	.348**	−.360**	0.001	0.174	−0.179	.730**	.584**	0.06	−0.033	0.226	−0.113	.531**	0.076	0.073	.797**	.604**

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Table 5. Effects of land-use types and topographic positions on soil CEC, exchangeable base cations, and PBS (mean ± standard error) in selected micro-watersheds of the Central Highlands of Ethiopia.

Water sheds	Factors	Classes	CEC (Cmolc Kg-1)	Na+ (Cmolc Kg-1)	K+ (Cmolc Kg-1)	Ca2+ (Cmolc Kg-1)	Mg2+ (Cmolc Kg-1)	PBS (%)
Non-Conserved	Topographic Position	Lower	39.51 + 2.84^a	0.49 + 0.05	0.71 + 0.06	33.28 + 3.96^a	7.16 + 0.38^a	102.87 + 4.59^a
		Middle	27.44 + 1.48^b	0.63 + 0.08	0.82 + 0.04	13.25 + 1.5^b	6.39 + 0.67^a	76.88 + 6.59^b
		Upper	21.42 + 1.4^b	0.59 + 0.06	0.67 + 0.04	8.25 + 0.63^b	4.09 + 0.6^b	64.57 + 6.83^b
		F-Value	12.794	1.697	1.374	15.086	8.755	12.419
		P-Value	<0.001***	0.202 ^ns	0.27 ^ns	<0.001***	<0.001***	<0.001***
	Land use types	AG	32.39 + 2.84	0.44 + 0.04^b	0.71 + 0.04	19.74 + 4.16	5.92 + 0.5	77.38 + 6.02^b
		FL	37.7 + 5.32	0.55 + 0.07^ab	0.74 + 0.1	35.16 + 7.84	8.09 + 0.9	117 + 4.66^a
		GL	25.96 + 4.75	0.8 + 0.1^a	0.86 + 0.02	16.9 + 7.54	5.37 + 1.03	83.6 + 12.3^ab
		F-Value	0.9	6.085	1.213	1.493	2.096	4.475
		P-Value	0.454 ^ns	0.003**	0.325 ^ns	0.24 ^ns	0.125 ^ns	0.012**
Conserved	Topographic Position	Lower	36.81 + 4.61^a	0.67 + 0.24	0.85 + 0.03	34.28 + 7.5^a	6.37 + 0.42	114 + 13.5^a
		Middle	26.11 + 1.67^b	0.63 + 0.06	0.68 + 0.06	15.08 + 2.05^b	5.86 + 0.64	84.08 + 6.24^b
		Upper	26.2 + 1.38^b	0.62 + 0.03	0.78 + 0.07	13.82 + 1.68^b	6.65 + 0.33	82.85 + 4.33^b
		F-Value	5.9	0.073	1.386	10.513	0.718	4.493
		P-Value	0.007***	0.93 ^ns	0.267 ^ns	<0.001***	0.497 ^ns	0.021**
	Land use types	AG	29.77 + 3.6	0.45 + 0.08	0.79 + 0.08	16.31 + 4.62	5.49 + 0.54	74.38 + 6.42
		FL	27.68 + 1.96	0.67 + 0.06	0.76 + 0.07	20.07 + 4.37	6.62 + 0.45	98.8 + 9.1
		GL	26.27 + 1.24	0.69 + 0.1	0.79 + 0.07	16.01 + 2.19	6.66 + 0.35	90.86 + 4.99
		F-Value	0.269	2.294	0.884	0.216	0.896	1.813
		P-Value	0.847 ^ns	0.101 ^ns	0.462 ^ns	0.884 ^ns	0.456 ^ns	0.17 ^ns
Overall	watersheds	Non-Cons.	32.07 + 2.06	0.55 + 0.04	0.73 + 0.03	22.1 + 2.89	6.24 + 0.36	87 + 4.41
		Cons.	27.93 + 1.34	0.63 + 0.05	0.75 + 0.04	17.73 + 2.08	6.29 + 0.3	88.53 + 4.24
		F-Value	2.84	2.04	0.13	1.5	0.01	0.06
		P-Value	0.1 ^ns	0.16 ^ns	0.72 ^ns	0.23 ^ns	0.91 ^ns	0.8 ^ns

Note: AG = agricultural land; FL = forestland; GL = grassland; CEC = cation exchange capacity, Na⁺ = exchangeable sodium; K⁺ = exchangeable potassium; Ca²⁺ = exchangeable calcium; Mg²⁺ = exchangeable magnesium; PBS = percent base saturation. The remaining abbreviation is similar with the one defined under Table 1.

Data availability statement

The corresponding author in this study is willing to provide the generated and analysed data upon reasonable request.