Abstract
Knowledge of contribution of land use to sustenance of soil organic matter (SOM) and soil structural stability is crucial to management of tropical soils for optimization of ecosystem services. The study evaluated SOM and soil structural stability in maize-sorghum (MS), fallow shrub land (FL) and rice field (RF) in Koupendri catchment, Benin Republic from which representative composite soil samples were collected at 0 – 20 cm depth and assessed. The SOM was highest for MS land use and significantly differed by 61 and 74% compared to RF and FL land uses. The indices for soil structural stability significantly (p<0.05) varied across the land uses except for 0.5–1 mm aggregate sizes and dry aggregate stability (ASd). Overall, the MS land use recorded greatest soil structural stability than fallow shrub land and rice field. While MS may be considered more useful strategy for contributing greater SOM and higher soil structural stability in the catchment, burning the residues in the rice field and the fallow shrub land use is highly discouraged.
Keywords:
Catchment
Indices
Land use
SOM
Soil structural stability
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