The effects of land use change from pasture to agricultural lands on some physicochemical properties of soil in Golestan province

The effect of land use change on some chemical and physical properties of disturbed and undisturbed lands were studied in Golestan province. Two hundreds and twenty soil samples were collected from surface layer of soils. Some soil properties such as Na, K, Ca, Mg, available P, S, soil electrical conductivity, pH, CCE, organic carbon percentage, cation exchange capacity and particle size distribution were measured in all soil samples. Statistical analysis were also performed on the data and the results showed that change in land use from pastures to agriculture lands did not show any significant changes on Ca, Mg, P, CCE, pH, EC and soil organic carbons; whereas Na, K, S, soil cation exchange capacity, clay, silt and sand contents showed significant changes due to the land use change. Correlation coefficients of the most effective factors were also calculated. The results showed that sodium and sulfur were the most correlated factors with soil electrical conductivity and calcium were found to be the most correlated factor with CCE percentage. Also, clay percentage, organic carbon and CCE were shown the stronger correlations with soil cation exchange capacity, than other factors.