A review of soil organic carbon in Ethiopia's major land use types
Main Article Content
Begna Tesema Bekana
Ali Mohammed
The carbon in soils related to the products of living organisms is noted as "soil organic carbon" (SOC). Soil is the largest terrestrial carbon sink, containing 2 to 3 times more carbon than the atmosphere and plants, respectively. The objective of this review is to assess and quantify SOC in Ethiopia across main land-use categories, as well as to identify critical gaps and priorities in SOC research and development. The existing literature search using research gateways, Google Scholar, and associated published and unpublished sources was employed as the methodological technique for this review. Previous authors have attempted to analyze and synthesize research on SOC in Ethiopia under major land use types emphasizing on the selected parts of the region. This is a key gap that this review aims to solve. According to the assessment, anthropogenic activities have nearly depleted 45 percent of the country's total landmass at this time. Forest Land (FL) > Grazing Land (GL) > (Cultivated Land) CL was the variable pattern for SOC. The highest SOC content was found in the FL, whereas the lowest was found in the CL. As a result of this analysis and research findings, it can be concluded that minimizing C losses by restoration of vegetation on degraded lands will improve SOC storage in Ethiopia, benefiting farmers and mitigating the current climate change.
Abera Y, Belachew T (2011) Effects of land use on soil organic carbon and nitrogen in soils of Bale, southeastern Ethiopia. Trop Subtropics Agro ecosyst 14:229–235.
AHI (1997) An inventory of spatial and non-spatial survey and research data on natural resources and the land productivity in the highlands of Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar and Uganda. (eds., Braun.A. R, Smaling, E., Muchung, E, Shepherd, K.D and Corbett, J.D) African Highland Initiatives (AHI) Technical report serious No. 6; 126 pp.
Alefu Chinasho, Teshome Soromessa and Eyale Bayable (2013). Carbon Stock in Woody Plants of Humbo Forest and its Variation along Altitudinal Gradients: The Case of Humbo District, Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy. Vol.3, No. 4, 2015, pp. 97-103.
Alemayehu A (2009) Ethiopian Organic Forum: Public Private Partnership. Forum Organized by Ministry of Rural and Agriculture Development and Ethiopian Association of Organic Agriculture (EAOA) at UN ECA in Addis Ababa on July 8, 2009.
Alemu B (2014) The role of forest and soil carbon sequestrations on climate change mitigation. Res J Agr Environ Manage 3(10):492–505.
Ali, S., Begum, F., Hayatc, R. and Bohannan, B.J.M. (2017). Variation in soil organic carbon stock in different land uses and altitudes in Bagrot Valley, Northern Karakoram. Soil and Plant Science. 67(6): 551–561.
Asmamaw LB, Mohammed AA, Lulseged TD (2011) Land use/cover dynamics and their effects in the Gerado catchment, northeastern Ethiopia. Int J Environ Stud 68:883–900.
Assefa D, Rewald B, Sandén H, Rosinger C, Abiyu A, Yitaferu B, God bold DL (2017) Deforestation and land use strongly effect soil organic carbon and nitrogen stock in Northwest Ethiopia. Catena 153:89–99.
Bass, S., Dubois, O., Moura Costa, P., Pinard, M., Tipper, R. and Wilson, C., (2000) Rural Livelihoods and carbon Management, IIED Natural Resource Issue Paper No 1. International Institute for Environment and Development, London.
Batjes, N.H (1996) Total carbon and nitrogen in the soil of the world. European Journal of soil sciences, 47:151-163.
Beintema, N.B and Solomon M (2003) Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators: Ethiopia, ASTI Country Brief No 9, IFPRI, ISNAR and EARO, 10 pp.
Berihu T, Girmay G, Sebhatleab M, Berhane E, Zenebe A, Sigua GC (2017) Soil carbon and nitrogen losses following deforestation in Ethiopia. Agron Sustain Dev 37:1
Birhane E, Ashfare H, Fenta AA, Hishe H, Gebremedhin MA, Wahed HG, Solomon N (2019) Land use land cover changes along topographic gradients in Hugumburda national forest priority area, northern Ethiopia. Remote Sens Appl: Soc Environm 13:61–68.
CREST and IRD (2007) Science and Technology System of Ethiopia, Mapping Research Systems in Developing Countries, Center for Science and Technology Center (CREST, South Africa) and Institute for Research and Development (IRD, France) synthesis report, UNESCO, France, 34 pp.
CSA (2010) National Statistics Abstract (Document # 3, Agriculture-2010), Central Statistical Agency (CSA) http://www.csa.gov.et/documents/2010 National Statistics (Abstract).
Demessie A, Singh BR, Lal R (2015) Land degradation and soil carbon pool in different land uses and their implication for food security in southern Ethiopia. In: Lal et al (Eds) Sustainable intensification to advance food security and enhance climate resilience in Africa. Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
Demessie, A. Effects of Conservation of Natural Forests to Plantations, Traditional Agroforestry and Cultivated Lands on Carbon Sequestration and Maintenance of Soil Quality in Gambo District, Southern Ethiopia. PhD thesis, Norwegian University of Life Science: Norway, 2009.
Demissie F, Yeshitila K, Kindu M, Schneider T (2017) Land use/land cover changes and their causes in Libokemkem District of south Gonder, Ethiopia. Remote Sens Appl Soc Environ 8:224–230.
Edwards S (2007) Role of organic agriculture in preventing and reversing land degradation, pp 523–536. In: Sivakumar MVK, Sivakumar VK, Ndiang’ui N (Eds) Climate and land degradation. Springer, Berlin, p 623.
EPAE (1989) The conservation strategy of Ethiopia (CSE), Environmental Protection Authority of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
EPAE (2004) The 3rd National Report on the Implementation of the UNCCD/NAP in Ethiopia, The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Environmental Protection Authority (EPAE). Feb., 2004, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
EST (2005) Profile of Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute and Centers, Ethiopian Science and Technology (EST).
Fantaw Y, Ledin S, Abdu Abdelkadir (2006) Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen stocks as affected by tropical aspects and vegetation in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. Geoderma, Volume 135, Pages 335-344.
FAO (2001, b) Soil Carbon Sequestration for Improved Land Management, World Soil Resources Reports 96, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Rome, Italy.
FAO/ISRIC (2004) A review of Carbon Sequestration Projects. Rome, Italy.
Fisseha I, Mats O, Karl S (2011) Effect of land use changes on soil carbon status of some soil types in the Ethiopian rift valley. J Drylands 4(1):289–299.
Freier KP, Glaser B, Zech W (2009) Mathematical modeling of soil carbon turnover in natural Podocarpus forest and Eucalyptus plantation in Ethiopia using compound specific δ13C analysis. Glob Chang Biol 16(5):1487–1502.
Gebreyesus B, Lulseged T, Paul LG (2014) Soil erosion prediction using Morgan Morgan Finney model in a GIS environment in northern Ethiopia catchment. Appl Environ Soil Sci.
Girmay G, Singh, B.R, Mitiku, H, Borresen T, Lal. R (2008) Carbon Stocks in Ethiopian Soils in relation to land use and soil management, Journal of Land degradation and Development, Vol 19 Issue 4, pp 351- 367.
Hailemariam S, Soromessa T, Teketay D (2016) Land use and land cover change in the bale mountain ecoregion of Ethiopia during 1985 to 2015. Land 5:41.
Haileslassie A, Priess J, Veldkamp E, Teketay D, Lesschen JP (2005) Assessment of soil nutrient depletion and its spatial variability on smallholders’ mixed farming systems in Ethiopia using partial versus full nutrient balances. Agric Ecosyst Environ 108:1–16.
IPCC (2007) Climate changes: the physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment. In: Solomon S, Quin D, and Manning M (Eds) Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
IPCC (2012) Glossary of terms. In: Field CB, Barros V, Stocker TF, Qin D, Dokken DJ, Ebi KL, Mastrandrea MD, Mach KJ, Plattner GK, Allen SK, Tignor M, Midgley PM (eds) Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation, a special report of working groups I and II of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, pp 555–564.
Israel T (2011) Soil Erosion risk assessment with RUSLE and GIS in dire dam watershed. Master’s Thesis, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa.
Kahsay A, Haile M, and Gebresamuel G, Mohammed M (2018) Land suitability analysis for sorghum crop production in northern semiarid Ethiopia: application of GIS based fuzzy AHP approach. Cogent Food Agric 4(1):1–24.
Kindu M, Schneider T, Teketay D, Knoke T (2013) Land use/land cover change analysis using object based classification approach in Munessa Shashemene landscape of the Ethiopian highlands. Remote Sens 5:2411.
Lal, R. (2004). Soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Geoderma. 123: 1–22.
Lal, R. (2008). Carbon sequestration. Philos Tran Roy Soc B. 363: 815–830.
Lemenih M, Karitun, E and Olsson, M (2005) Soil Organic matter dynamics after deforestation along a farm field Chrono sequence in Southern Highlands of Ethiopia, Agriculture, Ecosystem and Environment, Volume 109, Issues 1-2, pp 9-19.
Lemenih M, Lemma B, Teketay D (2005) Changes in soil carbon and total nitrogen following reforestation of previously cultivated land in the highlands of Ethiopia. Ethiopian J Sci 28(2):99–108.
Lemma B, Kleja D.B, Nilsson I, Olsson M (2006) Soil carbon sequestration under different exotic tree species in the southern western highlands of Ethiopia. Geoderma, Volume 136, Issues 3-4, pp. 886-898.
Mekuria W, Aynekulu E (2013) Enclosure land management for restoration of the soils in degraded communal grazing lands in northern Ethiopia. Land Degrad Dev 24:528–538.
Niles J O, Cleland E, and Gibbs Hand Orcutt B (2010) Carbon Finance in Ethiopian Rangelands: Opportunities for Save the Children Leadership, Final TFG Report submitted to save the children, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
NMSA (2001) Initial National Communication of Ethiopia to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), National Meteorological Services Agency (NMSA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Nyssen J, Frankl A, Zenebe A, Deckers J, Poesen J (2015) Land management in the northern Ethiopian highlands: local and global perspectives; Past, present and future. Published online in Wiley online library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
Osman, M. and Sauerborn. P., (2001) Soil and Water Conservation in Ethiopia: Experiences and Lessons, Journal of soils and sediments 1 (2), pp 117-123.
Pandey, C.B., Singh, G.B., Singh, S.K. and Singh, R.K. (2010). Soil nitrogen and microbial biomass carbon dynamics in native forests and derived agricultural land use in a humid tropical climate of India. Plant Soil. 333: 453–467.
Sainju, U.M. (2006). Carbon and nitrogen pools in soil aggregates separated by dry and wet sieving methods. Soil Sci. 171: 937–949.
Shiferaw A, Hans H, Gete Z (2013) A review on soil carbon sequestration in Ethiopia to mitigate land degradation and climate change. J Environ Earth Sci 3(12):187–201.
Shiferaw A, Hergarten C, Tibebu K, Zeleke G (2015). Meta-Analysis of long term management effect on soil organic carbon in Ethiopia. International Journal of Agricultural Research 10 (1): 1–13.
SIDA (2003) Ethiopia: Strategic Environmental Analysis, Country Strategic 2003-2007, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Spaccini, R.; Mbagwu, C.A.; Conte, P.; Piccolo, A. Changes of humic substances characteristics from forested to cultivated soils in Ethiopia. Geoderma 2005, 132, 9–19.
Stockmann U, Adams MA, Crawford JW, Field DJ, Henakaarchchi MJ, Minasny B, McBratney AB, de Courcelles VDR, Singh K, Wheeler I, Abbott L, Angers DA, Baldock J, Bird M, Brookes PC, Chenu C, Jastrow JD, Lal R, Lehmann J, O’Donnel AG, Parton WJ, Whitehead D, Zimmerman M (2013) The knowns, known unknowns and unknowns of sequestration of soil organic carbon. Agric Ecosyst Environ 164:80–99.
Ubuy MH, Gebrehiwot K, Raj AJ (2014) Biomass estimation of exclosure in the Debrekidan watershed, Tigray region, northern Ethiopia. Int J Agric for 4(2):88–93.
UNFCCC (2002) United Nations framework convention on climate change: a guide to the climate change convention process. Preliminary 2 editions. Climate Change.
USGS (2008) US geological survey. Carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Fact Sheet 2008–3097. December, 2008.
Vågen TG, Davey F, Shepherd KD (2012). Land health surveillance: mapping soil carbon in Kenyan rangelands. In: Nair PKR, Garrity D (Eds) Agroforestry—the future of global land use (Advances in agroforestry). Springer, New York, p 455–462.
Walcott J, Bruce S. and Sims J. (2009) Soil Carbon for carbon sequestration and trading: a review of issues for agriculture and forestry, Bureau of Rural Sciences, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australian Government, Canberra.
WANA NARS Study (1999) The National Agricultural Research System of Ethiopia.
Welemariam M, Kebede F, Bedadi B, Birhane E (2018) Exclosures backed up with community based soil and water conservation practices increased soil organic carbon stock and microbial biomass carbon distribution, in the northern highlands of Ethiopia. Chem Biol Technol Agric 5:12.
Williams CA, Hanan NP, Neff JC, Scholes RJ, Berry JA, Denning AS, Baker DF (2007). Africa and the global carbon cycle, Carbon Balance Management 2(3):1-13.
World Bank (2006) Humbo and Soddo Community-Based Natural Regeneration Project, Project Information Document (PID), Ethiopia/Report No 35515
World Bank (2008) Sustainable Land Management Project, Project Appraisal Document (PAD), Ethiopia/Report No 42927-ET, Project I.D P107139.
World Bank (2010) Kenya agricultural carbon project (English). World Bank, Washington, DC. Yimer F, Ledin S, Abdelkadir A (2006) Soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks as affected by topographic aspect and vegetation in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. Geoderma 135:335–344.
Yimer, F., Stig, L. and Abdelkadir, A. (2006). Soil property variations in relation to topographic aspect and vegetation community in the south-eastern highlands of Ethiopia. For Eco Manage. 232: 90–99.
Yohannes H, Soromessa T (2019) Integration of remote sensing, GIS and MCDM for land capability classification in Andit Tid watershed, Ethiopia. J Indian Soc Remote Sens.
Zhao, W., Hu, Z., Li, S., Guo, Q., Yang, H. and Zhang, T. (2017). Impact of land use conversion on soil organic carbon stocks in an agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia. J. Geogr. Sci. 27(8): 999-1010.
Begna Tesema Bekana , Wollega University, Ethiopia
Department of Environmental Science, Wollega University, Ethiopia
Ali Mohammed , Wollega University, Ethiopia
Department of Environmental Science, Wollega University, Ethiopia
