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Fractal Features of Soil Particles as an Indicator of Land Degradation under Different Types of Land Use at the Watershed Scale in Southern Iran

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Tahmoures

    (Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management, Zanjan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, AREEO, Zanjan 19395-1113, Iran)

  • Afshin Honarbakhsh

    (Department of Natural Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Science, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord 64165-478, Iran)

  • Sayed Fakhreddin Afzali

    (Department of Natural Resource and Environmental Engineering, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz 1585-71345, Iran)

  • Mostafa Abotaleb

    (Department of System Programming, South Ural State University, Prospekt Lenina, 76, Chelyabinsk 454080, Russia)

  • Ben Ingram

    (School of Water, Energy and Environment, Cranfield University, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UK)

  • Yaser Ostovari

    (Chair of Soil Science, Research Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany)

Abstract

Soil particle-size distribution (PSD) is an important soil feature that is associated with soil erosion, soil fertility, and soil physical and chemical properties. However, very few studies have been carried out to investigate soil degradation using the fractal dimension (D) of the PSD of soils from different land-use types in the calcareous soil of Iran. For this study, 120 soil samples (0–20 cm) were collected from different land-use types in the Fars Province, and various basic soil properties such as soil organic matter (SOM), soil texture fractions, calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), pH, and cation-exchange capacity (CEC) were measured. The PSD of the soil samples was determined using the international classification system for soil size fraction, and the D of the PSD was calculated for all soils. The results of this study show that D is significantly correlated with clay content (r = 0.93) followed by sand content (r = −0.54) and CEC (r = 0.51). The mean D values of the forest areas (D = 2.931), with a SOM content of 2.1%, are significantly higher than those of the agricultural land (D = 2.905 and SOM = 1.6%) and pastures (D = 2.910 and SOM = 1.6%), indicating that fine soil particles, particularly clay, have been preserved in forest soils but lost in agricultural and pasture soils. We conclude that agricultural land has experienced significantly higher levels of soil erosion than forest areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Tahmoures & Afshin Honarbakhsh & Sayed Fakhreddin Afzali & Mostafa Abotaleb & Ben Ingram & Yaser Ostovari, 2022. "Fractal Features of Soil Particles as an Indicator of Land Degradation under Different Types of Land Use at the Watershed Scale in Southern Iran," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-12, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:11:p:2093-:d:978407
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paweł Sowiński & Sławomir Smólczyński & Mirosław Orzechowski & Barbara Kalisz & Arkadiusz Bieniek, 2023. "Effect of Soil Agricultural Use on Particle-Size Distribution in Young Glacial Landscape Slopes," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Feng He & Neda Mohamadzadeh & Mostafa Sadeghnejad & Ben Ingram & Yaser Ostovari, 2023. "Fractal Features of Soil Particles as an Index of Land Degradation under Different Land-Use Patterns and Slope-Aspects," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-14, March.

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