Do natural ecosystems differ in terms of some soil physical properties? Savanna vs native grassland

Abstract

While numerous studies demonstrated the reduction effect of infiltration changes with natural vegetation conversion to croplands, few information is available examining inherent differences between natural ecosystems. We examined the steady state infiltration rate and other topsoil properties in two adjacent native ecosystem types (of the Brazilian tropical savanna) occurring under a similar soil type (oxisol), a native grassland and a savanna. We found a significantly higher steady state infiltration rate in the savanna (698 ± 521 mm h−1) compared to native grassland (413 ± 181 mm h−1). All soil properties were significantly different when comparing both ecosystem types indicating that higher topsoil permeability in the savanna is potentially related to higher organic matter content, lower bulk density, and lower penetration resistance. Previous studies have documented differences in soil hydraulic properties between natural and anthropogenic ecosystems under a similar soil type. Here we showed that such differences can also occur among natural ecosystems.