Soil is one of the most susceptible landscape elements, to land-use change. We collected and analyzed soil samples from different land-use units like agriculture, barren, evergreen, deciduous, and plantations like Arecanut and teak from Uttar Kannada District in Central Western Ghats, India and analyzed them for various physico-chemical parameters. Spatial analysis of key soil parameters was done to understand the variability with reference to the land uses. Soil carbon and nitrogen were severely low in agricultural and barren soils compared to natural landscapes like evergreen and deciduous. All other parameters like bulk density, pH, Ca, available P, available K, Mg were severely affected in agricultural and barren landscapes. Quality of soil in arecanut plantations were comparable to natural ecosystems due to land management practices such as mulching, etc.  The severe degradation of agricultural soils places a wider emphasis on adapting holistic management practices towards sustainable use of these lands in future.

Keywords: Uttara Kannada, soil quality, nutrients, carbon sequestration