Soils and landuse in the Tigray highlands (northern Ethiopia)
View/ Open
Authors
Nyssen, J.
Naudts, J.
De Geyndt, K.
Mitiku Haile,
Poesen, J.
Moeyersons, J.
Deckers, J.
Discipline
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Subject
Natural hazards
Audience
Scientific
Date
2008Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
Land use in a 208 ha representative catchment in the Tigray Highlands, Dogu a Tembien district in Northern Ethiopia was studied in relation to soil geography. Typical soils are Vertisols, Vertic Cambisols, Cumulic Regosols, Calcaric Regosols and Phaeozems. Patterns of land use vary greatly within the catchment and results from x2-tests showed strong associations (p<0 001) between soil type and land use and crop production system. There is a strong association between cropland and colluvium high in basaltic content because the most fertile soils, such as Vertisols and Vertic Cambisols, have developed on this material. Preference is for autochthonous soils on in situ parent material, irrespective of the rock type, to be put under rangeland. Land use by smallholders in Dogu a Tembien appears to be the result primarily of the interaction between environmental and social factors. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Citation
Nyssen, J.; Naudts, J.; De Geyndt, K.; Mitiku Haile,; Poesen, J.; Moeyersons, J.; Deckers, J. (2008). Soils and landuse in the Tigray highlands (northern Ethiopia). , Land degradation & Development, Vol. 19, 257-274,Identifiers
Type
Article
Peer-Review
Yes
Language
eng