Biological and chemical attributes of soils under forest species in Northeast Brazil

Olmar Baller Weber,Ricardo Espindola Romero,Maria Catia Barroso Da Silva,Cristiane Figueira Da Silva,João Alencar De Sousa,Carlos Alberto Kenji Taniguch,Deborah Dos Santos Garruti

doi:10.1007/s11676-019-00982-1

Abstract

Timber forests contribute to the sustainable development of the biomes in tropical regions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological and chemical properties of the soil as a consequence of the cover with native and non-native species in the Acaraú basin, a transition area from the coast to the Brazilian semi-arid region. Areas planted with four native species (Anadenanthera colubrina, Astronium fraxinifolium, Handroanthus impetiginosus, Colubrina glandulosa) and three exotic species (Acacia mangium, Casuarina equisetifolia, Eucalyptus urophylla) plus a non-forested agricultural area were evaluated for organic carbon contents, and microbial and chemical soil properties. The levels of soil organic carbon were highest in A. colubrina and C. equisetifolia plantations. Low basal soil respiration was observed but the microbial biomass was particularly low in the non-forested area. In the C. equisetifolia, E. urophylla, and H. impetiginosus plantations, elevated soil metabolic quotients were found. The A. colubrina and H. impetiginosus plantations had the highest levels of easily extracted-glomalin related soil protein. Tree species affect concentrations of essential nutrients and the biological quality of the soil in different ways. They can also improve the biological and chemical properties of the soil in the coastal plains of tropical regions.

Highlights

Brazil has large areas of forest and the greatest diversity of plants (Beech et al 2017)
Areas planted with four native species (Anadenanthera colubrina, Astronium fraxinifolium, Handroanthus impetiginosus, Colubrina glandulosa) and three exotic species (Acacia mangium, Casuarina equisetifolia, Eucalyptus urophylla) plus a non-forested agricultural area were evaluated for organic carbon contents, and microbial and chemical soil properties
This has led to recommendations that conservation practices should be adopted to aid regeneration (Medeiros et al 2017) using tree plantations, including native species such as Handroanthus impetiginosus (Mart. ex DC.) Mattos (Fonseca Filho et al 2017), Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan (Monteiro et al 2006), and other hardwood species (Lucena et al 2007; Ramos et al 2008; Fernandes et al 2017)

Summary

Introduction

Brazil has large areas of forest and the greatest diversity of plants (Beech et al 2017). There was practically little use of native species The success of these plantations is linked to favorable environmental conditions for intensive forestry, the adaptability of the introduced species and the abundance of available land. The region has low soil organic carbon stocks (Bernoux et al 2002), making these productive areas vulnerable to soil fertility loss (Ferreira et al 2014). This has led to recommendations that conservation practices should be adopted to aid regeneration (Medeiros et al 2017) using tree plantations, including native species such as Handroanthus impetiginosus Forest coverage enables changes in the physical (Martinkoski et al 2017), chemical and biological attributes of soil (Gomes et al 2012; Silva et al 2015; Chandra et al 2016; Medeiros et al 2017), and can modify microenvironments (Joly et al 2017), affecting the sustainability of forest ecosystems

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