Contrasting effects of land tenure on degradation of Cambisols and Luvisols: The case of Central Bohemia Region in the Czech Republic

Identifying key drivers of land degradation is essential to mitigate or prevent land degradation, promote land recovery, and achieve improvement at national and international levels. The aim of this study was to test whether the level of land tenure security affects the degree of soil degradation. The level of land tenure security was tested on two contrasting soil types to determine whether the initial soil quality may mitigate the effect of poor management. The following soil degradation indices were selected: soil compaction, soil organic matter content (SOM), and soil aggregate stability, measured as mean weight diameter (MWD), and weight of each size fraction. The soils tested belonged to one of the two soil types: Cambisol (with a sandy loam texture) or Luvisol (with a silt loam texture). Luvisols had higher SOM, macro aggregates, and compaction levels compared with Cambisols. In addition, Luvisols were not related to tenure security. Based on the results, Cambisols were affected by tenure security, and owner-managed soils had the highest SOM content and the lowest soil compaction. In addition, the Cambisols managed by long-term tenants were less compacted than soils managed by short-term tenants, because SOM is a long-term indicator. Therefore, a management practice that has been implemented for less than 10 years will not have a significant impact on this indicator. Owner-operators are likely to retain the soil for a longer period of time than either of the two groups of tenant farmers. Thereby, they would be able to affect the long-term characteristics of the soil better than the tenants. There was no significant difference in the mean weight of the soil aggregates between differently managed soils. This study concluded that the willingness of a farmer to invest in the soil is affected by tenure security and the length of the contract, which may be reflected by the soil quality, especially in nutrient-poor soils.