Hedgerow species and environmental conditions effects on soil total C and N and C and N mineralization patterns of soils amended with their prunings

Abstract

An important criterium in selecting species for alley cropping is themineralization pattern of their prunings. This study determined effects of 5years of hedgerow pruning applications on soil organic C and total N at threelocations in Haiti and mineralization patterns from soil amended with theprunings during an incubation using micro-lysimeters. Soils (0–5cm) under 5 hedgerows were collected at each site and analyzed fororganic C and total N. In the laboratory, ground leaves and stems (< 1cm diameter) of the hedgerow species were mixed with soil at ratesof 3 and 1.5 Mg ha−1, respectively, andaerobically incubated in the dark at 25 °C. A non-amended soilwas used as control. Soils were leached to determine mineral N at 1, 3, 7, 14,28, 42, 84 and 120 days of incubation. Evolved CO2 was measuredfollowing each leaching procedure. At the calcareous site, application ofprunings from Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) De Wit andDelonix regia (Boj. ex Hook. Raf.) resulted in 23 and 13%higher soil N than the control, respectively, after 5 years. There were nodifferences in total N at the other sites but soil N was highest underLeucaena hybrid and Acaciaangustissima (Mill.) Kuntze, respectively at the basaltic and highelevation sites. Soils under D. regia (calcareous) andA. angustissima and Leucaena hybrid(high elevation) had higher organic C than the respective controls. Carbon andNmineralization and C turnover were highest when soils were amended with leavesof Leucaena diversifolia (Schlecht.) Benth (calcareous andbasaltic soils) and A. angustissima (high elevation) andlowest in non-amended control soils. Stem-amended soils showed differences in Cmineralization for calcareous and high elevation soils whereas N mineralizationwas similar among treatments within sites. Carbon and N mineralization (highelevation soil) correlated positively with N concentrations of leaf prunings.Amendments with leaf prunings increased soil C and N mineralization andturnoverrates, suggesting greater nutrient availability for the crop during a shortperiod than in non-amended control soils.