The Effect of Land Cover Change on Soil Properties around Kibale National Park in South Western Uganda

Table 3

Mean ± SD of selected soil (15–30 cm) physical and chemical properties in the three land use/covers.

Soil properties	Natural forest	Tea	Eucalyptus	P <  .05
pH	4.70 ± 0.69^a	3.72 ± 0.24^b	4.88 ± 0.85^a	0.018
SOM (%)	5.92 ± 0.84	6.14 ± 1.49	5.26 ± 1.95	Ns
Total Nitrogen (%)	0.26 ± 0.06	0.26 ± 0.04	0.26 ± 0.08	Ns
Av. P (ppm)	3.32 ± 0.99^a	19.40 ± 10.04^b	12.00 ± 8.70^c	.002
Ca (cmol(p+)/kg)	7.63 ± 2.87^a	3.55 ± 1.98^b	5.66 ± 2.97^a	.014
Mg (cmol(p+)/kg)	2.20 ± 0.38^a	1.01 ± 0.46^b	1.57 ± 0.59^c	<  .001
K (cmol(p+)/kg)	0.14 ± 0.03	0.22 ± 0.10	0.33 ± 0.17	Ns
Na (cmol(p+)/kg)	0.042 ± 0.02	0.04 ± 0.01	0.12 ± 0.19	Ns
Bulk density (g/cm^3)	0.84 ± 0.03^a	1.48 ± 0.15^b	1.40 ± 0.09^b	.05
Ksat (cm/h)	15.27 ± 12.38	7.00 ± 12.24	3.99 ± 3.21	Ns
Clay (%)	23.33 ± 6.53	27.00 ± 7.67	31.00 ± 7.56	Ns
Silt (%)	15.00 ± 1.67^a	16.67 ± 7.12^a	24.67 ± 10.25^b	Ns
Textural class	Sandy clay loam	Sandy clay loam	Sandy clay loam

Values followed by the same letters in a row are not significantly different at P <  .05; n.s.: not significant.