Effects of Natural Rehabilitation of Degraded Land by Exclosure on Selected Soil Physicochemical Properties in Eastern Ethiopia

The use of exclosure for ecological restoration has become an increasingly vital approach to reversing degraded lands. Its effectiveness in restoring lands could be varied with differences climate, vegetation type and soil properties. Thus, the objective this study was determine effect on selected physical chemical properties soil. A six-year-old adjacent open land same history land-use types were selected. Soil samples randomly collected from 0–20 20–40 cm depths each measured texture, moisture content (SMC), bulk density (BD), organic carbon (SOC), available phosphorus (Av.P), cation exchange capacity (CEC), electrical conductivity (EC) pH contents. highest SMC, SOC Av.P lowest BD values exclosure. increased by 73, 51 55%, respectively, while decreased 31% as compared land. CEC, EC also influenced positively funding indicates had a positive nutrients, which are essential promote growth thereby minimize erosion.