Landscape-scale variability of soil health indicators: effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania

Land-use change continues at an alarming rate in sub-Saharan Africa adversely affecting ecosystem services provided by soil. These impacts are greatly understudied, especially in biodiversity rich mountains in East Africa. The objectives of this study were to: conduct a biophysical baseline of soil...

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Autores principales: Winowiecki, Leigh Ann, Vågen, Tor-Gunnar, Massawe, Boniface H.J., Jelinski, Nicolas A., Lyamchai, Charles, Sayula, George, Msoka, Elizabeth
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/68899
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author Winowiecki, Leigh Ann
Vågen, Tor-Gunnar
Massawe, Boniface H.J.
Jelinski, Nicolas A.
Lyamchai, Charles
Sayula, George
Msoka, Elizabeth
author_browse Jelinski, Nicolas A.
Lyamchai, Charles
Massawe, Boniface H.J.
Msoka, Elizabeth
Sayula, George
Vågen, Tor-Gunnar
Winowiecki, Leigh Ann
author_facet Winowiecki, Leigh Ann
Vågen, Tor-Gunnar
Massawe, Boniface H.J.
Jelinski, Nicolas A.
Lyamchai, Charles
Sayula, George
Msoka, Elizabeth
author_sort Winowiecki, Leigh Ann
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Land-use change continues at an alarming rate in sub-Saharan Africa adversely affecting ecosystem services provided by soil. These impacts are greatly understudied, especially in biodiversity rich mountains in East Africa. The objectives of this study were to: conduct a biophysical baseline of soil and land health; assess the effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon (SOC); and develop a map of SOC at high resolution to enable farm-scale targeting of management interventions. Biophysical field surveys were conducted in a 100 km2 landscape near Lushoto, Tanzania, with composite soil samples collected from 160 sampling plots. Soil erosion prevalence was scored, trees were counted, and current and historic land use was recorded at each plot. The results of the study showed a decline in SOC as a result of cultivation, with cultivated plots (n = 105) having mean topsoil OC of 30.6 g kg−1, while semi-natural plots (n = 55) had 71 g OC kg−1 in topsoil. Cultivated areas were also less variable in SOC than semi-natural systems. Prediction models were developed for the mapping of SOC based on RapidEye remote sensing data for January 2014, with good model performance (RMSEPcal = 8.0 g kg−1; RMSEPval = 10.5 g kg−1) and a SOC map was generated for the study. Interventions will need to focus on practices that increase SOC in order to enhance productivity and resilience of the farming system, in general. The high-resolution maps can be used to spatially target interventions as well as for monitoring of changes in SOC.
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spelling CGSpace688992025-04-17T08:26:12Z Landscape-scale variability of soil health indicators: effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania Winowiecki, Leigh Ann Vågen, Tor-Gunnar Massawe, Boniface H.J. Jelinski, Nicolas A. Lyamchai, Charles Sayula, George Msoka, Elizabeth soil land use soil fertility cropping systems carbon suelo utilización de la tierra fertilidad del suelo sistemas de cultivo carbono Land-use change continues at an alarming rate in sub-Saharan Africa adversely affecting ecosystem services provided by soil. These impacts are greatly understudied, especially in biodiversity rich mountains in East Africa. The objectives of this study were to: conduct a biophysical baseline of soil and land health; assess the effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon (SOC); and develop a map of SOC at high resolution to enable farm-scale targeting of management interventions. Biophysical field surveys were conducted in a 100 km2 landscape near Lushoto, Tanzania, with composite soil samples collected from 160 sampling plots. Soil erosion prevalence was scored, trees were counted, and current and historic land use was recorded at each plot. The results of the study showed a decline in SOC as a result of cultivation, with cultivated plots (n = 105) having mean topsoil OC of 30.6 g kg−1, while semi-natural plots (n = 55) had 71 g OC kg−1 in topsoil. Cultivated areas were also less variable in SOC than semi-natural systems. Prediction models were developed for the mapping of SOC based on RapidEye remote sensing data for January 2014, with good model performance (RMSEPcal = 8.0 g kg−1; RMSEPval = 10.5 g kg−1) and a SOC map was generated for the study. Interventions will need to focus on practices that increase SOC in order to enhance productivity and resilience of the farming system, in general. The high-resolution maps can be used to spatially target interventions as well as for monitoring of changes in SOC. 2016-07 2015-11-10T16:37:57Z 2015-11-10T16:37:57Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/68899 en Open Access Springer Winowiecki, Leigh; Vågen, Tor-Gunnar; Massawe, Boniface; Jelinski, Nicolas A.; Lyamchai, Charles; Sayula, George; Msoka, Elizabeth. 2015. Landscape-scale variability of soil health indicators: effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 1-12 p.
spellingShingle soil
land use
soil fertility
cropping systems
carbon
suelo
utilización de la tierra
fertilidad del suelo
sistemas de cultivo
carbono
Winowiecki, Leigh Ann
Vågen, Tor-Gunnar
Massawe, Boniface H.J.
Jelinski, Nicolas A.
Lyamchai, Charles
Sayula, George
Msoka, Elizabeth
Landscape-scale variability of soil health indicators: effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania
title Landscape-scale variability of soil health indicators: effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania
title_full Landscape-scale variability of soil health indicators: effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania
title_fullStr Landscape-scale variability of soil health indicators: effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania
title_full_unstemmed Landscape-scale variability of soil health indicators: effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania
title_short Landscape-scale variability of soil health indicators: effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania
title_sort landscape scale variability of soil health indicators effects of cultivation on soil organic carbon in the usambara mountains of tanzania
topic soil
land use
soil fertility
cropping systems
carbon
suelo
utilización de la tierra
fertilidad del suelo
sistemas de cultivo
carbono
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/68899
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