The effects of land use change on physical properties and water repellency of soils in Lordegan forest and Freidunshar pasture

Converting the forests and pastures to cultivated land results in loss of soil organic matter, deteriorating the soil structure, lowering hydraulic conductivity and increasing soil bulk density, which all cause increase in surface runoff and soil erosion. One of the soil physical properties which intensify runoff is soil water repellency. To examine the effects of land use change on water repellency, soil samples were taken from two areas of central Zagros (e.g. pasture in Fereydunshar and forest in Lurdegan). In each area two different land uses were selected. One under cultivation and the other was unaltered and for each land use three sites were randomly selected. The effects of organic matter and soil water content on water repellency were investigated during January and July. The degree of water repellency of a soil was measured by using the water drop penetration time (WDPT) test. There was a strong relationship between soil water repellency and percentage organic matter in surface soils under forested areas. In January when the soil water content was between 18 to 22%, no actual water repellency was found in the forest. However, in July the water drop penetration time in sites 1, 2 and 3 in the 5 cm of the top soil was 130, 50 and 150 second, respectively, when the soil water content was only 5%. No soil water repellency was found in cultivated forest and pasture (cultivated pasture and undisturbed pasture). Changes in land use induced negative effects on water repellency. In this study, changing forest to cultivated land decreased organic matter content; mean weight diameter of soil aggregates, total porosity and hydraulic conductivity by 23, 55, 11 and 40%, respectively. Changing pasture to cultivated land decreased organic matter content; mean weight diameter and total porosity by 22, 40 and 9%, respectively. Changing forest and pasture to cultivated land increased bulk density of soil by 7 and 6%, respectively.