Patterns of Lake Beseka catchment land use dynamics: Implication on soil organic carbon and pH properties

Abstract The study is intended to characterize the spatiotemporal land use and land cover (LULC) dynamics of Lake Beseka’s Catchment and investigate the impact of the expanding saline Lake Beseka on soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil pH across different LULC types. This study discusses the catchment’s geology, soil, topography, temperature, precipitation, LULC and its dynamics; and drivers of LULC change and impacts of LULC dynamics on SOC and soil pH. Three land cover types have experienced significant spatiotemporal variability over a period spanning from 1973 to 2015. Shrubland has decreased noticeably while bareland and Lake Beseka have increased drastically. It was observed that the growing Lake Beseka is indirectly deriving the LULC dynamics; that in turn caused loss of soil fertility and vegetation coverage. The analysis of SOC and soil pH values across different LULC types indicates that the watershed is characterized by low content of SOC (~ below 4%) and high pH values (6.8–10.8). Moreover, SOC and pH were observed to be sensitive to LULC change than variation in soil types.