EFFECTS OF SELECTED FARM LAND TREE SPECIESON SOIL PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIESIN ARBA MINCH ZURIA WOREDA, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Trees on farms facilitate nutrient cycling;enrich the soil with nutrients and organic matter, and improvingsoil structure. It is obvious that some trees enhance the fertility of the soil beneath their canopy. This study aimed tocompare the effect of different tree species on selected soilphysicochemical properties and toexamine the effect of Fedherbia albida, Kigelia africana and Mangifera indicatrees on physicochemical properties of soil under the canopy and open land.Soil samples along radial distancesof tree species weretakenfrom 0-30 cm depth by using auger and their physicochemical properties were analyzedin lab.The datawereanalyzed usingANOVA and SAS statistical methods.Results depicted that tree species didn’t affect soil texture and moisture content, but significantly affected bulk density (p < 0.05). Available phosphorous(P)was significantly affected by tree species (p < 0.05) but, total nitrogen,exchangeable potassium,soil organic carbon, exchangeable magnesium, exchangeable calcium,exchangeable sodium, cation exchange capacity, pH and EC were not significantly affected by tree species(p > 0.05). Bulk density and texture didn’t significantly affected by distances from tree trunk (p > 0.05)however;soil moisture content was significantly affected by distances from tree trunk (p < 0.05). Avail. P, exch. K, exch. Ca, CEC, and SOC were significantly affected by distances from tree trunk (p < 0.05) but, total N, exch. Mg, pH and EC were not affected by distances from tree trunk. Among tree species, K. africana comprise more nutrient than F. albida and M. indica.Further study for the confirmation of the current result is needed. In addition, due to time and budget constraints missed physicochemical properties of soil should be studied.Key words:Farm land, Fedherbia albida,Kigelia africana, Mangifera indica, physicochemicalproperties, radial distance, tree specie