Characteristics Eroded/Disturbed sites(0-5 km) Stable upland sites(5-15 km) Reference sites(> 15 km) pH (H2O) 3.91a 3.88a 3.83a pH (0.01M CaCl2) 3.47a 3.17a 3.53a Total Organic C (mg/kg) 65833a 215000b 257333b Total Organic N (mg/kg) 3356a 9330b 9490b Total Organic C/N 19.61a 23.04b 27.12b Respiration (ppm) 39.48a 66.11b 81.21c N-Mineralization Potential (µg mineral-N/g) 25-45 45-75 75-105

Means in rows with a common alphabets are not significantly different based on Tukey multiple comparison test (P ≥ 0.05). Eroded/Disturbed sites: Airport,Wahnapitae Hydro-Dam and Kelly Lake; Stable upland sites: Kingsway, Kukagami and Laurentian; Reference sites: Onaping Falls, Capreol and Hagar.

Table 6: Chemical and microbiological characteristics of soils from various areas in GSR.