Skip to main content

page search

Library Soil restoration after seven years of exclosure management in northwestern Ethiopia

Soil restoration after seven years of exclosure management in northwestern Ethiopia

Soil restoration after seven years of exclosure management in northwestern Ethiopia

Resource information

Date of publication
December 2016
Resource Language
ISBN / Resource ID
handle:10568/77084
License of the resource

Ecological restoration through exclosure establishment has become an increasingly important approach to reversing degraded ecosystems in rangelands worldwide. The present study was conducted in northwestern Ethiopia where policy programs are aiming to restore degraded lands. Changes in soil properties following establishing exclosures on communal grazing lands were investigated. A space-for-time substitution approach was used to monitor changes in soil properties after conversion of communal grazing lands to exclosures with ages of establishment ranging from 1 to 7-years. Significant differences in soil pH, exchangeable cations, cation exchange capacity, soil moisture content, and bulk density were observed within exclosures and between exclosures and communal grazing land. Communal grazing land displayed significantly higher soil total nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compared to exclosures. Exclosures did not display significantly higher soil organic matter content when compared to the communal grazing land. The results confirm that more than 7 years after the establishment of exclosures is required to detect significant improvements in most of the investigated soil properties. Prohibition of the practice of grass harvesting during the first 3 to 5 years following the establishment of exclosure, and decreasing the amount of grass harvest with exclosure age could support to increase easily decomposable organic inputs to the soil and improve soil properties in relatively short period of time.

Share on RLBI navigator
NO

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s)

Mekuria, Wolde M.
Langan, Simon
Noble, A.
Johnston, Robyn

Data Provider