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

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.