Efficiency of soil and water conservation practice in different climatic environments in steppe regions

Soil and water conservation (SWC) is important for reducing the damaging effects of different soil erosion problems and improving the sustainability and rehabilitation of the natural environment. This study evaluated the effect of SWC in conserved areas on soil properties of two different climatic regions, including semi-arid (Rastab region) and humid cold temperate (Kohrang region) climates in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran. A total of 24 soil samples were taken as soil cores from two layers, including 0–30 cm and 30-60 cm from each region. The soil physicochemical properties were analyzed based on standard laboratory procedures.Based on the results, soil properties in a five-year conserved area experiment showed improvement. However, no significant trend was observed in soil bulk density. The storage of soil carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) significantly increased after five years in the conserved area, while lime (CaCO3) decreased significantly. Moreover, significant improvement was found based on the infiltration rate in the conserved area management. Therefore, conserved areas for five years significantly improved the soil quality and potential carbon sequestration and infiltration rate in both semi-arid and humid cold temperate climates conserved areas. Overall, conserved areas in the area with a colder climatic regime improved the soil quality more than the semi-arid regime. Thus, SWC should be adopted and scaled up in areas exposed to severe land degradation due to its positive effects.