Abstract:
Soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks are essential for climate change
mitigation and agricultural production. The study was conducted in 2022 to evaluate SOC and
TN stocks variation under different land-use types, slope gradients, and soil depths in Aregedif
micro-watershed of the western Gojjam zone, northwestern Ethiopia. For this study, stratified
random sampling with a 10 m by 10 m size of 9 plot in each land-use was marked to collect soil
samples in an "X" design. As a result, 81 composite and core sampled soils from three land-use
types, three slope gradients, and three subsequent soil depths were collected in three
replications. The slope gradients and land-use types were identified with a DEM of 30 m x 30 m
resolution and a satellite Sentinel 2 of 10 m x 10 m resolution, using ERDAS imagine 2015 and
the map was developed using Arc GIS 10.7. The data was analysis using Microsoft Office Excel
2007 and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 23. After comparing
the means a multivariate ANOVA was conducted for significant differences. Moreover, a mean
separation was made using one way ANOVA LSD test. The result confirmed that SOC and TN
stocks were significantly (p<0.05) influenced by land-use types, slope gradients, and soil depths.
The highest mean value of SOC and TN stocks was observed on grassland (25.11±2.08 t/ha,
1.98±0.17 t/ha), flat to gentle slopes (22.27±1.55 t/ha, 1.96±0.14 t/ha) and 0–10 cm soil depths
(24.56±1.99 t/ha, 2.28±0.14 t/ha) while the lowest value of SOC and TN stocks was observed on
cultivated land (14.16±1.68 t/ha, 1.44±0.14 t/ha), steep slopes (14.35±1.63 t/ha, 1.28±0.13 t/ha)
and soil depths of 20 –30 cm (13.58±1.30 t/ha, 1.10±0.11 t/ha) respectively. This could be due
to the frequent addition of OM in grassland and low-input agricultural systems in cultivated
land and the erosion movement of C and N containing OM in flat to gentle slope, and the
removal of organic materials from steep slope by runoff and erosion. furthermore, the top layer
accumulates more OM than the lower one. There was a strong positive linear relationship
between SOC and TN stocks (R
2
=64.0). Based on the confirmed result, different land-use types,
slope gradients and soil depths have different potentials to change SOC and TN stocks either
positively or negatively. Therefore, integrated land management practices are the most effective
way to increase SOC and TN stocks.