Abstract:
The present paper investigated the impacts of land use change on physical and
chemical characteristics of soil. A land, originally inhabited by native secondary
forest, later converted to pineapple cultivation was selected for collection of
representative soil samples from the 0-15 cm depth. A closely forest land was used
as the reference. Soil texture, bulk density, aggregate stability, pH, total nitrogen,
available soil P, exchangeable K and organic matter (OM) content were determined
following standard methods. According to the results, significant variations in OM,
soil pH, aggregate stability and available P were observed among forest and
cultivated lands. The distribution of particle size revealed a decrease in larger
particle size and an increase in smaller particle size following the conversion of
natural forest to other land cover. Land use changes from forest to pineapple
cultivation resulted in decreased aggregate stability, soil pH and organic matter
content. The highest (17.3 mg kg-1) mean available P was recorded in the old
pineapple land followed by forest land (15.0 mg kg-1) whilst the lowest in the new
pineapple land (12.4 mg kg-1). However the values of bulk density, total nitrogen
content and exchangeable K content of forest and cultivated lands were not
significantly different (p ≤ 0.05). Based on the results, it can be concluded that regular
monitoring of soil properties is essential to maintain soil health, enhance agricultural
productivity and sustain agro-ecosystems
