TITLE:
Effect of Desertification on Some Selected Soil Properties in a Semi Arid Part of Northwestern Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Sheikh Danjuma Abubakar, Nathaniel Bayode Eniolorunda
KEYWORDS:
Desertification, Soil Quality, NDVI, Soil Organic Carbon, Sokoto
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.4 No.7,
July
25,
2016
ABSTRACT: Gudu,
being a fringe local government area of Sokoto State of Nigeria, is in the
heart of desertification zone of Nigeria where agriculture as the sole means of
livelihood for the ever increasing population is endangered. The extent of the
effect of desertification on the soil quality is unknown, and for sustainable
livelihood, timely information on vegetation and soil resources of the area is
of essence. It was therefore hypothesized that desertification has effect on
the Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) and particle size. Objectives include assessment
of vegetation condition of the area, vegetation change detection and
identification of hotspots and assessment of soil properties in the hotspots.
Biennial time series (1998 and 2014) of 1-km 10-day SPOT Normalized Difference
Vegetation Index (NDVI) was subjected to Time Series Analysis (TSA). Vegetation
change detection was carried out to isolate hotspots (improved and degraded
areas) from which soil samples were taken. ANOVA was used to test for
difference in the measured soil properties at P