Land Use and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks—Change Detection over Time Using Digital Soil Assessment: A Case Study from Kamyaran Region, Iran (1988–2018)
Land use change and soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) depletion over time is one of the predominant worldwide environmental problems related to global warming and the need to secure food production for an increasing world population. In our research, satellite images from 1988 and 2018 were analyzed...
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/3/597 |
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| author | Kamal Nabiollahi Shadi Shahlaee Salahudin Zahedi Ruhollah Taghizadeh-Mehrjardi Ruth Kerry Thomas Scholten |
| author_facet | Kamal Nabiollahi Shadi Shahlaee Salahudin Zahedi Ruhollah Taghizadeh-Mehrjardi Ruth Kerry Thomas Scholten |
| author_sort | Kamal Nabiollahi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Land use change and soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) depletion over time is one of the predominant worldwide environmental problems related to global warming and the need to secure food production for an increasing world population. In our research, satellite images from 1988 and 2018 were analyzed for a 177.48 km<sup>2</sup> region in Kurdistan Province, Iran. Across the study area. 186 disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected at two depths (0–20 cm and 20–50 cm). Bulk density (BD), soil organic carbon (SOC), rock fragments (RockF) and SOCS were measured. Random forest was used to model the spatial variability of SOCS. Land use was mapped with supervised classification and maximum likelihood approaches. The Kappa index and overall accuracy of the supervised classification and maximum likelihood land use maps varied between 83% and 88% and 78% and 85%, respectively. The area of forest and high-quality rangeland covered 5286 ha in 1988 and decreased by almost 30% by 2018. Most of the decrease was due to the establishment of cropland and orchards, and due to overgrazing of high-quality rangeland. As expected, the results of the analysis of variance showed that mean values of SOCS for the high-quality rangeland and forest were significantly higher compared to other land use classes. Thus, transformation of land with natural vegetation like forest and high-quality rangeland led to a loss of 15,494 Mg C in the topsoil, 15,475 Mg C in the subsoil and 15,489 Mg C<sup>−1</sup> in total. We concluded that the predominant causes of natural vegetation degradation in the study area were mostly due to the increasing need for food, anthropogenic activities such as cultivation and over grazing, lack of government landuse legislation and the results of this study are useful for land use monitoring, decision making, natural vegetation planning and other areas of research and development in Kurdistan province. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:02:02Z |
| format | Article |
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| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:02:02Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-5d478b154fce42e0b8aa6c54c7f2f3a02023-11-21T11:25:29ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952021-03-0111359710.3390/agronomy11030597Land Use and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks—Change Detection over Time Using Digital Soil Assessment: A Case Study from Kamyaran Region, Iran (1988–2018)Kamal Nabiollahi0Shadi Shahlaee1Salahudin Zahedi2Ruhollah Taghizadeh-Mehrjardi3Ruth Kerry4Thomas Scholten5Department of Soil Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj 6617715175, IranDepartment of Soil Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj 6617715175, IranKurdistan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Sanandaj 6619415023, IranDepartment of Geosciences, Soil Science and Geomorphology, University of Tübingen, 72070 Tübingen, GermanyDepartment of Geography, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USADepartment of Geosciences, Soil Science and Geomorphology, University of Tübingen, 72070 Tübingen, GermanyLand use change and soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) depletion over time is one of the predominant worldwide environmental problems related to global warming and the need to secure food production for an increasing world population. In our research, satellite images from 1988 and 2018 were analyzed for a 177.48 km<sup>2</sup> region in Kurdistan Province, Iran. Across the study area. 186 disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected at two depths (0–20 cm and 20–50 cm). Bulk density (BD), soil organic carbon (SOC), rock fragments (RockF) and SOCS were measured. Random forest was used to model the spatial variability of SOCS. Land use was mapped with supervised classification and maximum likelihood approaches. The Kappa index and overall accuracy of the supervised classification and maximum likelihood land use maps varied between 83% and 88% and 78% and 85%, respectively. The area of forest and high-quality rangeland covered 5286 ha in 1988 and decreased by almost 30% by 2018. Most of the decrease was due to the establishment of cropland and orchards, and due to overgrazing of high-quality rangeland. As expected, the results of the analysis of variance showed that mean values of SOCS for the high-quality rangeland and forest were significantly higher compared to other land use classes. Thus, transformation of land with natural vegetation like forest and high-quality rangeland led to a loss of 15,494 Mg C in the topsoil, 15,475 Mg C in the subsoil and 15,489 Mg C<sup>−1</sup> in total. We concluded that the predominant causes of natural vegetation degradation in the study area were mostly due to the increasing need for food, anthropogenic activities such as cultivation and over grazing, lack of government landuse legislation and the results of this study are useful for land use monitoring, decision making, natural vegetation planning and other areas of research and development in Kurdistan province.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/3/597land use degradationremote sensing datarandom forestGISdigital soil mapping |
| spellingShingle | Kamal Nabiollahi Shadi Shahlaee Salahudin Zahedi Ruhollah Taghizadeh-Mehrjardi Ruth Kerry Thomas Scholten Land Use and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks—Change Detection over Time Using Digital Soil Assessment: A Case Study from Kamyaran Region, Iran (1988–2018) Agronomy land use degradation remote sensing data random forest GIS digital soil mapping |
| title | Land Use and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks—Change Detection over Time Using Digital Soil Assessment: A Case Study from Kamyaran Region, Iran (1988–2018) |
| title_full | Land Use and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks—Change Detection over Time Using Digital Soil Assessment: A Case Study from Kamyaran Region, Iran (1988–2018) |
| title_fullStr | Land Use and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks—Change Detection over Time Using Digital Soil Assessment: A Case Study from Kamyaran Region, Iran (1988–2018) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Land Use and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks—Change Detection over Time Using Digital Soil Assessment: A Case Study from Kamyaran Region, Iran (1988–2018) |
| title_short | Land Use and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks—Change Detection over Time Using Digital Soil Assessment: A Case Study from Kamyaran Region, Iran (1988–2018) |
| title_sort | land use and soil organic carbon stocks change detection over time using digital soil assessment a case study from kamyaran region iran 1988 2018 |
| topic | land use degradation remote sensing data random forest GIS digital soil mapping |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/3/597 |
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