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Research Journal of Forestry

Year: 2010 | Volume: 4 | Issue: 1 | Page No.: 1-13
DOI: 10.17311/rjf.2010.1.13
Effect of Vegetation Type on Soil Physical Properties at Lincoln University Living Laboratory
Nsalambi V. Nkongolo and Christopher J. Plassmeyer

Abstract: The aim of this investigation was to study surface soil physical properties of Lincoln University Living Laboratory (LULL) as affected by vegetation type. The LULL is a forested area on Lincoln University campus which resulted rock mining activities that took place prior to 1950. Soil samples were collected at 56 locations in each of two portions of LULL dominated by a forest and grass. The coordinates of each sampling location were recorded using Global Positioning System (GPS) and LULL was also mapped. Soil samples were analyzed for several soil physical properties and the data was transferred to GS+ 5.0; ARCGIS 9.2 and Statistix 9.0 for variogram modeling, mapping and correlation analysis. Results showed that the forest portion of LULL had higher soil bulk density (ρb), gravimetric (θg) and volumetric (θv) water contents while the grass had higher total soil pore space (TPS) and air content (fa). Within each plot, soil physical properties correlated significantly among themselves with correlation coefficients (r) ranging from 0.44 to 0.90. However, no significant correlation existed for soil properties between plots (grass vs forest). Soil physical properties responded to several variogram models. However, except for TPS which fitted to a linear variogram model in both forest (R2 = 0.95) and grass (R2 = 0.95), all other soil properties variograms differed. Most of soil physical properties followed a similar and consistent distribution pattern in both forest and grass plots. Further studies are underway to better understand the effect of land use history on soil properties of LULL.

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How to cite this article
Nsalambi V. Nkongolo and Christopher J. Plassmeyer, 2010. Effect of Vegetation Type on Soil Physical Properties at Lincoln University Living Laboratory. Research Journal of Forestry, 4: 1-13.

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