Effects of habitat gradient and agro-climatic variation on selected soil physical and chemical properties in the Bale Mountains national park, south-eastern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests that anthropogenic effects are responsible for drastic changes in landscape patterns and ecosystem services. This study aims to assess the effects of landscape change and agro-climatic variation on selected soil physical and chemical properties in the Bale Mountains national park. A combination of stratified and systematic sampling techniques was employed to draw representative soil samples. A total of 72 soil samples (3 agro-climatic zones × 3 land cover types × 2 habitat gradients × 4 replications = 72) at a depth of 0-20 cm were collected for the soil physical and chemical property analysis. A two-way analysis of variance was conducted to determine the level of variation in soil parameters. Tukey's honest significance difference (HSD) test was used to compare treatment means at a 0.05 level of significance. RESULTS: The results suggest that soil parameters differed significantly (p < 0.05) among agro-climatic zones, land cover, and habitat gradients. The soil pH, SOC, TN, AP, CEC and clay content were significantly higher in the lower altitude, natural vegetation and interior habitat, whereas the soil sand and silt content as well as the soil bulk density were significantly higher in the farmland and edge habitat. CONCLUSIONS: Conservation and restoration priority should be given to those vegetation types and ecosystems that are highly affected by human interferences such as the grassland in the middle altitude, ericaceous land in the higher altitude, and moist forest in the lower altitudes.