Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Stock Indices and Mechanical Properties of Soils in Two Land Uses in Northeastern Iran

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
Fariba Samaei
Hojat Emami
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effect of land use type on some soil characteristics, including Carbon stock (CS), Nitrogen stock (NS), S-Index, Structural Stability Index (SSI), soil pore size distribution, soil shear strength (τ), internal friction angle (φ˚), shear Cohesion (C), Soil Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC), Relative Field Capacity (RFC), Available Water (AW), Aeration Porosity (AP), and effective Porosity (Pe) in Shandiz City, Khorasan Razavi Province, northeast Iran. For this purpose, 60 soil samples were taken from the surface layer (0-20 cm) in pasture and agricultural land uses. The results showed that S-Index, SSI, RFC, AW, Pe, Cs, and Ns in the Pasture Land Use (PLU) were significantly higher than in agricultural land use. The values of τ, C, and φ˚ in the pasture land use were significantly (p<0.01) less than the agriculture land use. The relationship between soil organic carbon stock index and bulk density (r= -0.69), coarse fragments (r= -0.73), cohesion (r= -0.70), and φ˚ (r= -0.52) were significant and negative. The amounts of C and N stock indices in pasture land use were 61.6% and 33.1 % greater than agricultural lands, respectively. Therefore, as a result of land use change, C and N stock, S-index, RFC, SSI, AW, AP, Pe, and, consequently, the soil quality decrease, and soil degradation increase in agricultural land use.

Keywords

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Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
Volume 28, Issue 1
January and February 2026
Pages 235-248