THE EFFECTS OF LAND USE CHANGES AND MANAGEMENT TYPES ON SURFACE SOIL PROPERTIES IN KAFKASOR PROTECTED AREA IN ARTVIN, TURKEY

The effect of visitors' activities and management types on surface soil properties continues to be an issue of concern in protected areas. Little evidence was documented regarding the effects of visitors' activities on surface soil properties in forest and grassland in forest gap in protected areas in Turkey. The research focused on the evaluation of the effect of visitor activities and management types on the surface soil environmental conditions in Kafkasor Protected Area. For this purpose six different land use types were identified and characterized as control (Natural Old Forest), moderately used forestry (MUF), heavily used forestry (HUF), light grazing in glade (LGG), moderately used glade (MUG) and heavily used glade (HUG). Fourteen soil properties (such as field capacity (FC), permanent wilting point (PWP), bulk density, total porosity, soil penetration resistance (SPR), soil organic matter (SOM), etc...) were measured on 96 soil pits at 0-5 and 5-10 cm soil depths in six experimental sites in the study area. According to land use intensity, FC, plant available water (PAW), total porosity, saturated hydraulic conductivity, cumulative infiltration and SOM decreased significantly while bulk density, PWP and SPR increased significantly in all experimental sites compared to control site. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.