What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to examine how changes in land use and land cover influence soil health in the Fincaha’a Watershed.

November 17, 2025Open Access

Dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC) change and its consequential impact on soil health in the Fincaha’a Watershed, Northwest Nile Basin, Western Ethiopia

Key Points

This research aims to examine how changes in land use and land cover influence soil health in the Fincaha’a Watershed.
Analyzed Landsat images from 1990, 2000, and 2020 using supervised classification in ArcGIS.
Measured soil texture, water-holding capacity, organic carbon, bulk density, total nitrogen, pH, and phosphorus in various land uses.
Sampled soil from forest, cultivated, grazing, and fallow fields at 0–20 cm depth.
Forest cover decreased from 41.3% to 21.7%, while cultivated land increased from 32.5% to 56.8%.
SOC was highest in forest soils at 3.74% and lowest in cultivated soils at 1.08%.
Bulk density increased from 1.12 g/cm³ in forest soils to 1.42 g/cm³ in cultivated soils.
Significant declines in available phosphorus and total nitrogen were noted in intensively used fields.

Abstract

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes affect soil health, particularly in ecologically sensitive highlands. This study explores LULC dynamics and their influence on selected soil parameters in the Fincaha’a Valley watershed, Upper Nile Basin, Ethiopia. Landsat images from 1990, 2000, and 2020 were subjected to supervised classification in ArcGIS. Soil texture, water-holding capacity, soil organic carbon (SOC), bulk density (BD), total nitrogen (TN), pH, and available phosphorus (AvP) were measured in soil samples (0–20 cm depth) from forest, farmed, grazing, and fallow fields. Forest cover dropped from 41.3% to 21.7%, while cultivated land rose from 32.5% to 56.8%. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed among land use types. SOC was highest in forest soils (3.74%) and lowest in cultivated soils (1.08%). BD rose from 1.12 g cm⁻³ (forest) to 1.42 g (cultivated). AvP and TN decreased significantly in intensively used fields. These findings indicate that LULC conversion adversely affects soil health, affecting long-term land productivity and ecological services. To improve soil quality and resilience in the Fincaha'a watersheds, agroforestry and conservation farming are recommended.

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