Forest conversion to agricultural lands: impact on soil physical characteristics

Abstract

Forest conversion to other land uses, particularly for agriculture, has been prevalent worldwide, with Indonesia being particularly affected. The removal of forest cover, which exposes the organic matter to more severe climatic conditions, leads to a deterioration in the physical characteristics of the soil. This paper investigates the alterations in various soil physical properties when forests are converted into agricultural land uses, including fallow areas with shrubs, wetland rice cultivation, cacao plantations, durian plantations, and avocado plantations. Both undisturbed and disturbed soil samples from each land use were analyzed to assess hydraulic conductivity, bulk density, and soil organic carbon (C) content. With the exception of wetland rice, all land uses exhibited a sandy loam texture. The forests contained the highest amount of SOC (4.70%), while the other samples contained less than half (2.01%) of this quantity.