Physical Properties of Soil in Relation to Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Soils Under Selected Land Use Practices in Akwa Ibom State

This study assessed the effects of land use types on selected physical properties of soil in Akwa Ibom State, south-south Nigeria. Four land use types, intensive cultivated land (ICL), natural forest (NF), oil palm plantation (OPP) and gmelina plantation (GP), were considered. Each land use was represented by three profile pits which were sampled according to genetic horizons for laboratory analysis. Data generated were analyzed statistically using descriptive and regression analyses. The results showed that ICL had the highest bulk density (Bd) ( 1.7g/cm3) followed by NF and OPP (1.6g/cm3) while GP had the least (1.5g/cm3), OPP had the highest total porosity (Tp) (43.7%) followed by GP (42.6%), NF (41.1%) while ICL had the least (36.2%), ICL and NF had the highest water stable aggregates (WSA) (12.9%) followed by OPP (8.3%) while GP had the least (4.3%). However, OPP had the highest saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) (8.4cm/h) followed by NF (8.2cm/h) while ICL and GP had the least (4.3cm/h). Result further showed that Ksat was significantly correlated with clay with r2 value of 0.53 (Ƿ˂ 0.01). Across the four land use types, Ksat was moderately rapid. Irrespective of land use type, soils were dominated by sand-sized fraction which generally decreased with depth, reflecting the influence of the parent material(coastal plain sands). This study shows that the land use types were similar in their effects on Ksat but there were no significant differences.