Exclosures backed up with community-based soil and water conservation practices increased soil organic carbon stock and microbial biomass carbon distribution, in the northern highlands of Ethiopia

Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture

Table 1 Effect of community-based soil and water conservation measures on soil properties (Mean ± SEM)

Soil properties	Non-conserved grazing lands	Terraces	Exclosures + terraces	Exclosures alone
SOC (%)	1.9 ± 0.1^c	2.5 ± 0.1^b	2.9 ± 0.1^a	2.8 ± 0.1^a
Bulk density (kg m⁻³)	1280 ± 32^a	1260 ± 28^a	1240 ± 21^a	1220 ± 48^a
Coarse fragment (%)	57.6 ± 0.2^b	53.2 ± 0.2^b	47.4 ± 0.2^a	54.4 ± 0.2^b
SOC stock (Mg ha⁻¹)	16.0 ± 1.0^c	21.0 ± 1.3^b	29.0 ± 1.4^a	24 ± 1.3^b

Means followed by the same letter along each column do not differ significantly at P ≤ 0.05