Soil properties of degraded and reserve forest areas of Northern Western Ghats, India

This dataset contains physical and chemical properties of soil collected from privately owned forest and reserve forest areas of Maharashtra and Goa. The data was collected for a study comparing the soil properties of repeatedly disturbed sites(Privately-owned) with historically disturbed(Reserve) sites.

Soil was collected from four regions(paired sites) considering disturbance gradient for Codal, Ghodgewadi-Morle, Talkat and Tillari. Six samples were collected from restoration sites (Vanoshi, Codal and Kudal). All the samples were collected in January 2024.

Description of field and lab methods:

Soil collection:  Soil samples were collected from 42 plots spread across privately-owned forests and reserve forests, using soil core sampler. The diameter of the core sampler was measured before soil collection. All soil samples were collected from 20 cm depth after removing the leaf litter from the ground where core was inserted. From each plot, three soil column were collected for bulk density estimation and 8-12 soil columns were collected for analysis of chemical properties (measuring 1-1.5kg).

Bulk density estimation: For each sample, all the roots above 0.5 mm diameter were separated from the soil and the length and diameter of the roots were recorded. The volume of the roots were calculated. The entire sample was dried in the oven at 120°C, for 2 hours. After drying, the soil sample were sieved with a 2mm mesh sieve to separate the stones and clumped soil. The dry mass of soil and stones for each sample was recorded. The volume of the stones from each sample was measured separately using water displacement method. The total volume of soil was calculated by deducting the volume of roots and stones from volume of the soil core sampler. Bulk density was calculated as mass of the dried soil sample by the total volume of the soil.

Chemical Properties: We estimated fifteen soil chemical properties for all soil samples collected. The following parameters were analyzed by Zuari Farmhubs Laboratory: pH, electrical conductivity (E.C.) at 25°C, organic carbon (O.C.), available phosphorus (P₂O₅), available potassium (K₂O), available calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), boron (B), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), and manganese (Mn). Total carbon and nitrogen were estimated using LECO elemental analyzer.

More details about the data can be obtained from Himanshu Lad and Rohit Naniwadekar from the Nature Conservation Foundation (www.ncf-india.org).