Özalp, MehmetÇavdar Gökhan2021-07-092021-07-092016Özalp, M., & Çavdar, G. (2016). Responses of some soil properties to 14th-year afforestation efforts in the semi-arid grasslands of Ankara, Turkey. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 25 (11), 4589-4597https://hdl.handle.net/11494/3298Both overuse and misuse of lands in Turkey have resulted in loss of vegetation cover and increasing soil erosion, causing extensive areas to become unproductive. The degree of degradation may reach more serious stages when climatic, topographic and socio-economic limitations are present in these areas. For example, most of the lands within the Central Anatolia Region have been facing serious degradation due to region's semi-arid climate, resulting application of many afforestation and reforestation projects to reestablish vegetation cover and improve degraded soil properties. However, there is a lack of scientific research on how these rehabilitation efforts affecting soil characteristics in such lands. Thus, in this study, a land degraded by erosion mostly due to over/heavy grazing near Sarioba Village in Ankara was investigated to determine if afforestation efforts have provided any positive effects on soil properties. For this purpose, total of 60 soil samples were randomly taken at 0-30/30-60/60-90 cm depths in afforested and untreated sites. Soil samples were analyzed for texture, organic matter, pH, lime, total nitrogen, plant available phosphorus, electrical conductivity (EC), field capacity, wilting point and available water. Overall, except for clay content and EC, the results indicated that afforestation efforts resulted in better soil properties. For example, soil OM increased from 1.12% in untreated site to 1.61% in afforested site while the pH dropped from 8.08 to 7.68, in untreated and afforested sites, respectively. Similarly, the mean values of total nitrogen, plant available phosphorus, field capacity and available water were also improved in the afforested site.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessSemi-arid regionLand degradationSoil propertiesAfforestation effortsArticle251145894597N/A