Effect of vegetation patch size on selected chemical properties of soils under semiarid climate conditions

OpenAlex İngilizce

This study aimed to investigate effects ofvegetation patches of different sizes on selected chemical characteristics ofsoil. The study was carried out in a semiarid region of Central Anatolia. Basedon average diameter of the canopy, vegetation patches in the site were dividedinto three groups: 0–4 meters (m) (small), 4–8 m (medium), and >8 m (large).Soil samples were collected from under the patch canopy and near the canopy atthe topsoil. The soil samples were mixed, and one subsample was taken as arepresentative of each patch size. A total of 20 subsamples for the small, 14for the medium-sized, and 14 for the large patches were collected. The soilsamples were analyzed for electrical conductivity, pH, potassium, calcium,magnesium, phosphorus, total nitrogen, and total carbon. Results showed thatpatch size had a significant effect on the phosphorus and total nitrogencontents of the topsoil. Topsoil around the large patches had significantlygreater phosphorus content 0.03 grams/liter (g/L) than small (0.01 g/L) andmedium-sized (0.01 g/L) patches. Similar to phosphorus values, the topsoil aroundthe large patches had significantly greater total nitrogen content (0.70%) thanthe topsoil around the small (0.62%) and medium-sized (0.60%) patches. Sinceboth nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients are important elements for early plantgrowth and survival, large patches should not be cleared from the sites duringthe land rehabilitation works due to their positive impacts on the topsoilunder fragile landscape conditions in the semiarid regions. Cite this paper as: Özçelik, M.S.,Gökbulak, F., Şengönül, K., 2019. Effect of vegetation patch size on selectedchemical properties of soils under semiarid climate conditions. Forestist69(2): 117-123.