Effects of Different Shrubby Rangeland Reclamation Practices on Some of Soil Characteristics

Abstract The present research was conducted to determine possible changes in soil fertility characteristics during the reclamation practices over the prickly burnet (Sarcopoterium spinosum (L.) Spach) covered shrubby rangelands of Kalekoy village of Gokceada (Canakkale). During the initial year of the research (2010), soil samples were taken from the experimental plots before the implementation of reclamation processes. Then the reclamation processes (burning, grubbing, cutting and natural) were implemented to fight against prickly burnet shrubs. Following the implementation of these processes, second soil sampling was performed in 2011 and then half of all plots were seeded. The third sampling was performed in 2012 and then sheep grazing was performed over the half of the plots. Following the grazing, final soil samples were taken in 2013. Entire soil samples were subjected to soil reaction (pH), water soluble total salt, carbonate, texture, organic material, organic C (carbon), total N (nitrogen), available P (phosphorus), exchangeable Ca (calcium), Mg (magnesium), Na (sodium) and K (potassium) analyses and C/N ratio was calculated by using the analysis values. It was observed from the analyses that reclamation processes implemented over the shrubby rangelands for four years did not resulted in significant changes in soil pH, salinity, N, carbonate and Mg contents. However, significant changes were observed in organic C, organic matter, P, Na, Ca and K levels of shrubland soils with reclamation processes. Entire implementations increased soil reaction, salt and available phosphorus. The greatest changes in soil fertility characteristics were observed in burnt-seeded-preserved plots of the shrubby rangelands. Key words: Gokceada, reclamation, shrubland, soil characteristics Ozet Deneme, Gokceada (Canakkale)’da aptesbozan (Sarcopoterium spinosum (L.) Spach) calisi ile kapli Kalekoy koyu merasinin islah calismalari sirasinda toprak verimlilik ozelliklerinde meydana gelebilecek degisimlerin tespiti amaci ile yapilmistir. Denemenin ilk yilinda (2010) merada islah uygulamalarina baslamadan once parsellerden toprak orneklemesi yapilmistir. Daha sonra aptesbozan calisi ile mucadele amaciyla ana parsellerde islah islemleri (yakma, sokme, bicme ve kontrol) gerceklestirilmistir. Bu islemlerden sonra 2011’de 2. ornekleme yapilmis, sonrasinda butun parsellerin yarisi tohumlanmistir. Ucuncu ornekleme 2012’de yapilmis ve deneme alanindaki parsellerin yarisinda koyun otlatilmaya baslanmistir. Otlatmadan sonra, deneme sonunda (2013) toprak ornekleri alinmis ve tum orneklerde toprak reaksiyonu, suda eriyebilir toplam tuz, kirec, bunye, organik madde, organik C (karbon), toplam N (azot), alinabilir P (fosfor), degisebilir Ca (kalsiyum), Mg (magnezyum), Na (sodyum) ve K (potasyum) analizleri yapilmis ve C/N orani hesapla bulunmustur. Sonuc olarak dort yillik surede, yapilan uygulamalar topraklarin pH, tuz, N, kirec, Mg iceriklerinde onemli degisime neden olmamis, organik C, organik madde, P, Na, Ca ve K onemli duzeyde degismistir. Tum uygulamalar toprak reaksiyonu, tuz ve alinabilir fosforu artirmistir. Toprak verimlilik ozelliklerinde en fazla degisim yakilan, tohumlanan ve korunan alanda gerceklesmistir. Anahtar kelimeler: Gokceada, islah, mera, toprak ozellikleri