Landscape-scale soil quality assessment under different land use systems in north-western hilly region

The impact of different land use systems on soil quality was examined using a systematic framework in three landscape environments each with various land use systems in tropical north-western hilly region of India. The assessment framework used was comprised of a minimum data set, linear scoring functions and weighted additive indices. Soil quality was evaluated according to seven identified soil attributes. When the attributes were combined to assess the performance of soil functionality, the forest land use system showed higher overall soil quality. Streambed in lower landscape position had the lowest score (0.31) and forest woodland in middle land use system had maximum score (0.68). In each landscape, the forest land use was taken as reference site for comparison of soil quality. With respect to the corresponding forest soil, bulk density increased by as much as 12.6% (0.83% to 12.6%), organic carbon (OC) declined by as much as 86.19% (5.95% to 86.19%) and hydraulic conductivity declined by as much as 64.89% (28.24% to 64.89%) in scrub land and terraced agricultural lands. Substantial loss of total N (1.7% to 93.3%), extractable P (7.37% to 76.64%) and available K (17.12% to 55.77%) was also observed in scrub land and terraced agricultural lands. Present study showed that land use has a great influence on many soil quality attributes mostly through its effect on soil organic matter, total N and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The study further revealed that cultivation on the hill slopes have resulted in a significant deterioration of soil quality as described by different physical and chemical soil attributes.