Effects of Watershed Management Practices on Glomalin Related Soil Protein as Rapid Soil Health Indicator: The Case of Amalake Watershed, Gidabo Sub-Basin, South Ethiopia

Abstract

Finding the best tactics suited to particular ecological situations requires a comprehensive grasp of thelong-term impacts of watershed management techniques. Tracking trends in changes to soil biogeochemical properties is particularly useful. The purpose of this study was to look into the long-term effects on soil glomalin and associated soil physicochemical parameters of three different watershed management techniques: soil bund (SB), micro-basin (MB), and fanya-juu (FJ). Easily extractable and total glomalin were extracted following standard methods. The study analyzed the impacts of these soil management practices and the correlations between soil glomalin and other soil physicochemical properties. All three soil and water conservation practices resulted in significant changes (p < 0.05) in easily extractable glomalin and total glomalin. Notably, the SB management practice produced the highest increase (21.13%) compared to the control sample. The most substantial change (38.26%) in aggregate stability was observed for large macro-aggregates in the lower slope under SB management. Soils under SB in the lower slope had the highest percentage of water-stable aggregates (WSA), 74.35%. The increases were 57.06% to 100% for SB, 72.05% to 77.69% for MB, and 34.16% to 71.90% for FJ in terms of soil organic carbon (SOC) linked to macro-aggregates. The results indicate that all three soil and water conservation practices significantly improved soil physicochemical properties. The decreasing order of changes in soil glomalin, aggregate size distribution, WSA, and nutrient availability was SB > MB > FJ > control sample. This implies that SB is the most effective soil and water conservation practice in semi-humid regions and plateau landscapes.