~ 270 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2020; SP-8(6): 270-276 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 www.chemijournal.com IJCS 2020; SP-8(6): 270-276 © 2021 IJCS Received: 11-09-2020 Accepted: 23-10-2020 Rajeev Dhiman Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India CL Thakur Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India Dinesh Kumar Pal Department of Forest Products, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India Varun Attri Regional Reserch Station, PAU, Ballowal Saunkhri, Balachaur, SBS Nagar, Punjab, India Ranjeet Singh Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India Corresponding Author: Rajeev Dhiman Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India Studies on soil physico-chemical properties at different locations and elevations of Quercus leucotrichophora forests Rajeev Dhiman, CL Thakur, Dinesh Kumar Pal, Varun Attri and Ranjeet Singh DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i6d.11225 Abstract The present investigation entitled “Studies on soil physico-chemical properties at different locations and elevations of Quercus leucotrichophora forests” was carried out during the year 2018-19 to know the soil physico-chemical properties in Chail forests of district Solan, Kufri forests of district Shimla, Sarahan and Churdhar forests in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh with three elevations i.e., E1 (<1500 m), E2 (1500-1800 m) and E3 (>1800 m) in each. Composite samples were collected from 15 cm depth for soil and biochemical analysis. Among locations, the thickness of forest litter layer, microbial activity, available K and P content showed a decreasing trend as: Kufri forest soils > Chail forest soils > Churdhar forest soils > Sarahan forest soils. Among elevations, the thickness of forest litter layer and Organic C followed the trend as: E3 > E2 > E1 whereas, soil pH, bulk density, available N, P and K content fell as E1 > E2 > E3. Maximum available N, soil EC and Bulk density was found in Chail forest. Kufri forest soils have shown best results for all soil parameters. Keywords: Soil physico-chemical properties, elevation, microbial activity etc. Introduction Forests are one of the Earth’s greatest treasures – rich habitats teeming with animal and plant species, herbs, fungi, microorganisms and soils. Forests occupy a paramount importance in ecology which needs to be quantified for their variability to describe ecosystems, the functional attributes of which are enhanced by the occurrence of varied edaphic, topographic and meteorological features. A complex of site factors visually vegetation type, slope, aspect, edaphic factors, and altitude (Sharma et al. 2009, Sharma et al. 2010a; Gairola et al. 2011a) [37, 38, 14] determines the community composition, structure, and distribution pattern of diversity in mountain vegetation (Kessler 2001; Schmidt et al. 2006) [19, 35] . Forest soils influence the composition of the forest stand and ground cover, rate of tree growth, vigour of natural reproduction and other silvicultural important factors (Bhatnagar 1968) [5] . Physiochemical characteristics of forest soils vary in space and time due to variations in topography, climate, physical weathering processes, vegetation cover and microbial activities (Paudel and Sah 2003) [33] . Plant tissues (from above ground litter and below ground root detritus) are the main source of soil organic matter, which influence physico-chemical characteristics of soils such as pH, water holding capacity, texture and nutrient availability (Kumar et al. 2004) [21, 22] . It is important to study the physico-chemical and biological properties of these forests because the soils in the forests determine the growth and quality of vegetation. In the present study, soils from different locations and elevations were collected from 15 cm depth and analysed the variation among the soils in different locations and elevations by which the vegetation growth can be estimated. Material and methods The present investigation entitled “Studies on soil physico-chemical properties at different locations and elevations of Quercus leucotrichophora forests” was carried out during the year 2018-19 to know the soil physico-chemical properties in Chail forests of district Solan, Kufri forests of district Shimla, Sarahan and Churdhar forests in Sirmaur district of Himachal