Evaluation the Soil Quality Related to Different Land Use Type in Kharas Village, Northwest Hebron, Palestine

The impact of different land use types on soil quality was evaluated by measuring several soil properties that are sensitive to stress or disturbance. The soil quality indicators was selected including physical (texture, bulk density and soil moisture), chemical (pH, electrical conductivity, total and available K, Na, P, NO3, NH4 contents) and biological (active carbon and organic matter) parameters. These parameters were assayed on soil samples collected in Kharas village, northwest Hebron, Palestine. Surface soil samples from 0-8 cm depth were collected from six randomly selected points in each two different land use types which are the cultivated land and uncultivated land by using a hand auger in September 2016. In this research the soil texture is not considered as indicator of soil quality between cultivated land and uncultivated land because it is the same. The studied soil was silty clay loam for both lands with the expectation of soils from Hebron area. Based on the results of soil quality parameters we found a clear difference between them. Ammonia, Nitrate, EC and Sodium were higher in the cultivated land due to the overexposure to minerals form fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. Meanwhile, Potassium and Phosphate concentrations were found higher in the uncultivated land because in the cultivated land there is consumption by the cultivated plants. But the results in some parameters such as carbon dioxide, pH and bulk density were comparable for each of the two lands. The reason for that, because the land that the soil sample were taken was not cultivated from three years ago, this period may be not sufficient to change the properties of soil. We recommended the researchers to take the period of time into consideration to get more accurate results.