Soil macronutrient dynamics across diverse Ethiopian vegetation types: A synthesis for sustainable forest ecosystem management

There are a lot of investigations on soil nutrient dynamics across different vegetation ecosystems of Ethiopia as a baseline scientific investigation to alleviate deforestation, degradation of forest, and soil degradation, and climate change. However, the previous studies provided fragmented conclusions that made it difficult for policymakers to develop evidence-based management for sustainable forest ecosystems. There is limited comprehensive scientific evidence in this regard, requiring an analysis of existing studies on selected macronutrient dynamics across major vegetation types in Ethiopia, having the ecological implications of soil nutrient changes on forest health, plant diversity, and productivity. This review follows the PRISMA principles and includes 154 articles published in reputable journals. The result revealed that the highest nitrogen (0.6 %), SOC (7.75 %), OM (8.5 %), and SOC stocks (158.5 tons/ha) were recorded at Moist Evergreen Afromontane Forests (MAF), while the highest phosphorus (10.15 Mg/kg) was recorded at Dry evergreen Afromontane forest. The included studies also highlighted that MAF and afro-alpine forest ecosystems have a highly positive impact on the health, diversity, and productivity of the forests through soil macronutrients. The soil macronutrients significantly enhance ecosystem resilience and vary across vegetation types due to differences in climate, vegetation structure, and management. Understanding how vegetation structure shapes macronutrient dynamics provides essential insights for sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation in Ethiopia and other regions with similar land-use pressures. Therefore, this review contributes to evidence-based policy formulation and successful sustainable forest soil management with an ecosystem approach to achieve SDGs at a national, regional, and global level.