LAND USE CONVERSION EFFECTS TRIGGERED BY TEA PLANTATION ON LANDSLIDE OCCURRENCE AND SOIL LOSS IN NORTHEASTERN ANATOLIA, TURKEY


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Hacisalihoğlu S., Gümüş S., Kezik U.

FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN, vol.27, no.5, pp.2933-2942, 2018 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 27 Issue: 5
  • Publication Date: 2018
  • Journal Name: FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
  • Page Numbers: pp.2933-2942
  • Keywords: Camellia sinensis, Alnus glutinosa, Landslide, Soil Loss, ABAG, PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES, MOUNT ELGON, CATCHMENT, EROSION, SUSCEPTIBILITY, IMPACT, WATER, DENSITY, AREA, CITY
  • Karadeniz Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Tea plants are usually grown in areas susceptible to landslides and most of the tea plantations are transformed from forestlands in Turkey. There are interrelations between soil properties and landslide occurrence. Soil characteristics are effective on the formation of landslides in combination with other factors while landslides significantly affect important soil properties such as organic matter and bulk density. This study was carried out in 15 landslides occurred in tea (Camellia sinensis) plantations area in the Gundogdu region. Soil samples were taken from tea plantation and forest area that adjacent of landslides. Different soil depths (0-20 cm and 20-50 cm) and soil properties, clay type and soil loss quantities were investigated under the same slope and slope length conditions. As a result, significant negative changes have been determined in soil characteristics such as organic matter, pH, bulk density, saturated hydraulic conductivity and saturation (P<0.05). This is the fact especially where the forest areas were converted into tea fields in over time. The same negative situation was also determined in average soil loss amounts (P<0.001). Annual average soil loss was determined 85.73 t/ha/yr in areas with tea plantations, whereas this value was found to be 18.41 t/ha/yr in the forested areas. The common clay type in the field was determined as kaolinite and the soil texture was classified as sandy to sandy loam.