Assessment of the Effects of Urban Land Use on Some Soil Properties in Parts of Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Several land use activities have some negative effects on the surrounding soil. This study paper tried to assess the various effects of different land use activities on the physical and chemical properties of soil in part of Kaduna metropolis. Urban land use types such as residential, road side mechanic workshop, dump site, farm land, industrial and wood land were chosen for the study. The main source of data for the study was primary data. Profile pits where dug and 23 samples of soil were collected for laboratory analysis. An undisturbed wood land around the eastern bypass in Maraban Rido was used as the control. The samples were analyzed according to standard method in the laboratory to assess the soil particle size, pH, organic matter, exchangeable bases, exchangeable acidity, available phosphorus, total nitrogen, effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC), and some heavy elements such as Mn, Cu, Ni, Fe, Pb, Zn, and C. The result of the study shows that clay content increases with depth in soils under the various land use, which indicate that urban land use has affected the soils of the area. Organic matter content was found to be relatively high especially in the mechanic workshop and dumpsite, also the ECEC values are higher in soils affected by urban land uses as compared to the control this may be attributed to municipal waste incorporation into the soils. The concentration of heavy metals was generally low as compared to the permissible limit showing that land use types has not affected soil quality significantly. The paper therefore recommends careful use of the soils in the Metropolis to avoid further changes in its quality.