The Impact of Land Use on Erodibility and Soil Quality (Case Study: Hashtian Catchment, Urmia Lake)

Soil erosion is considered as an important factor in reducing soil quality and degradation. One of the important and influential parameters in soil erosion is the types of land use. Each of the land uses directly and indirectly affects the erodibility of the soil and as a result the quality of the soil. Heshtian Catchment area needs monitoring of soil quality and erodibility due to natural conditions, human interventions and diversity of land use. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of land use on erodibility and soil quality in Hashtian Catchment. In this research, 21, 18 and 14 samples of agriculture, pasture, and garden land use were taken from the basin by systematic-random method, respectively. By performing statistical analyses, the physical and chemical characteristics of the samples, including sodium, potassium, total phosphorus, organic carbon, electrical conductivity, pH, calcium, saturated percentage, bulk density, particle density, and soil texture were determined. Using variance analysis, the relationship between the measured parameters and land uses was determined. The results showed that most physical and chemical parameters of soil with P value less than 0.05 have a significant relationship with land use. Also, the results showed that soil quality index with P value (0.17) has no significant relationship with land use, and soil erodibility with P value less than 0.001 has a significant relationship with land use. Also, using Post-hoc test and Tukey's method, it was determined that agricultural use with better quality soil due to aeration and remaining straw and stubble during plowing and vegetation is suitable, and pasture use is suitable due to excessive livestock grazing and the reduction of soil nutrients has a high erodibility compared to agricultural and garden use.