by Yiyi Sulaeman1, Eni Maftuáh1,Sukarman Sukarman1, Risma Neswati2, Nurdin Nurdin3, Tony Basuki1, Ahmad Suriadi1 and Ivan Vasenev4

1Research Organization for Agriculture and Food, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jalan Jakarta-Bogor KM 46, Cibinong, Bogor 16915, West Java, Indonesia2Department of Soil Science, Hasanuddin University, Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan KM 10, Makassar 90245, South Sulawesi, Indonesia3Department of Agrotechnology, State University of Gorontalo, Jalan Prof. Dr. Ing. B.J. Habibie, Gorontalo 96554, Gorontalo, Indonesia4Department of Ecology, Russian Timiryazev State Agrarian University, Timiryazevskaya Ulitsa, 49, Moscow 127550, Russia*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.Land 2025, 14(3), 599; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14030599

Abstract

Black soils refer to soils with black, thick upper layers containing 0.6% or more soil organic carbon in the tropical region. This high organic carbon content makes these soils essential for climate change control and food production. In Indonesia, black soils are found under forests, shrublands, and grasslands in tropical monsoon and savannah climates. Land clearing for agricultural uses will change black soil properties; however, knowledge of change (level, direction, and sensitivity) is limited. Meanwhile, soil surveying records land-use types and collects soil samples, resulting in voluminous legacy soil data. This study aimed to compare the mean difference in soil properties between two land-cover/use types. We used 142 black soil datasets containing legacy data on particle size distribution (sand, silt, clay), pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available P2O5 (AP), and exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, K, Na). We calculated the Hedges’s g-index for effect size assessment and performed a Welch’s t-test for significant differences. The results show that, compared to the forest, the agricultural dryland and monoculture home gardens have a large effect size and trigger changes in many soil properties. In contrast, mixed home gardens and paddy fields have a small effect size. In decreasing order, the black soil properties sensitive to change are TN > SOC = exchangeable K > exchangeable Mg = available phosphorus = pH = exchangeable Na > sand = silt = clay > exchangeable Ca. The results suggest that a combination of home gardens and paddy fields better supports food security and mitigates climate change in black soils. In addition, the legacy soil data can be used to monitor soil property changes.

Keywords: black soil; climate change; effect size; land use; soil properties

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