Indian Journal of Ecology

Land use change are considerably affecting organic carbon and biochemical properties of soil, however, information on how such conversions affect soil carbon and microbial properties in Nagaland University Campus of Zunheboto District is scanty. Soil carbon, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nutrients were studied in four selected types of land uses: regenerating forest (RF); home garden (HG); shifting cultivation (SC); Pinus khasiana plantation (PKP) of Nagaland. Results showed maximum BD in PKP followed by SC, HG and RF. The other soil parameters like soil moisture (SM), OC, TN, avail N, avail P, avail K and microbial C were in order: RF>HG>SC>PKP. Significantly (p<0.05) positive correlation was recorded among soil factors in these sites. Microbial C showed a positively significant (p<0.05) correlation with TN, OC and avail K in all the sites. In conclusion, our results indicate that land uses like PKP and SC may lead to a reduction in SOC and MBC along with a decline in the substrate utilization efficiency of the microbial community in the soil compared from RF and HG. Enhance trees along with grass, intercropping, hedgerows are recommended to maintain soil fertility status and mitigating negative impacts of land conversions due to increased soil erosion.