Chemical Soil Quality Indicators in Relation to Topographic Positions in the North-Western Himalayas, India

Abstract

The restoration of degraded soils is a basic step towards the sustainability of an ecosystem. The aim of this study was to evaluate the macro-and micronutrient availability along with altitudinal gradients (1900–2100 m) at four sites in the Indian Himalaya. The lowest altitude (1900–1950 m) of ecosystem resulted significantly higher availability ranged (1.13–1.48%) of Walkley-Black Organic Carbon (WBC), available KMnO4-N (∼233–272 kg ha−1), Olsen-P (8.80–9.96 kg ha−1), NH4OAc-K (∼200–222 kg ha−1), DTPA-Fe (∼32–38 mg kg−1) and Cu (1.73–1.84 mg kg−1) over the highest altitude (2050–2100 m) of the study area. Altitude receiving the advantage by shifting of nutrients from higher to lower latitude improved WBC, KMnO4-N, Olsen-P, NH4OAc-K and DTPA-Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn availability by ∼24, 14, 12, 10, 9, 14, 6 and 3%, respectively, over lowest availability of the nutrients in the ecosystem. The soil EC (1: 2.5 soil: water) was significantly higher under 1900–1950 m altitude of the ecosystem. The multivariate analysis showed that Olsen-P, micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn), WBC and KMnO4-N were the key determinant of variability under Indian Himalayan region (IHR).