Soil Physicochemical and Macrobiota Diversity Dynamics Under Enclosed Areas of Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Background Area enclosures have been implemented for many decades to restore degraded areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate its contribution to the enhancement of soil physicochemical and macrobiata diversity.Results Among the soil physicochemical parameters, the overall mean BD (0.002*), soil-MC (0.000*), % sand (0.011*), % clay (0.038*), pH (p = 0.022*), SOM (p = 0.005*), and Exch. Ca (p = 0.000*), and exch. K (p = 0.000*) exhibited a significant mean difference across the different land-use while % silt, EC, ava. K, ava. P, TN, CEC, and exch. Mg was insignificant at α-0.05. Although the whole study area was dominated by sandy, the result of ANOVA indicated that there was a significant mean difference in %sand (p = 0.011*) fraction across the land uses. The SOM also varied significantly and it is very high in the CA1, followed by CA2, PA, and OA, respectively. Though the result of Tukey's HSDa and homogeneity test showed that there is no statistically significant mean difference in the amount of available soil nutrients across the study sites, there was a slight variation in their magnitude, and PA was characterized by having high ava. P (9.70 ± 3.261a) and TN (0.28 ± 0.064a) while ava. K is very low (1062.29 ± 110.018a) compared to other land uses. In terms of the soil macrofauna, the CA1 had higher species diversity (1.90), abundance (32.69%), and richness (30.95%), and the species were evenly distributed. Followed by CA1, PA has a good species diversity (1.30), richness (26.19%), and abundance (24.16%), although the soil macrofauna was less evenly distributed compared to other land uses.Conclusion Generally, the enclosed area contributed to the improvement of soil physicochemical and biological components, and hence, expanding such measures in consultation with concerned bodies of the study area and proper follow-up mechanisms have a crucial role in rehabilitating degraded areas.