Soil Chemical Attributes under Crop-Livestock-Forest Integration System and in Different Land Uses in Mata dos Cocais Region

Abstract

The sustainability of ecosystems is closely linked with the assessment of soil properties that estimate their quality. This work proposes to evaluate soil chemical attributes as a function of the implantation of a crop-livestock-forest integration system (ICLF) in the region of Mata dos Cocais in the state of Maranhão, Northeast Brazil. The four different land uses evaluated were native vegetation with babassu, capoeira vegetation, degraded pasture and area under ICLF system (with marandu grass, maize and eucalyptus consortium). The samples were collected up to one meter deep, comprising seven layers: 0.00-0.10, 0.10-0.20, 0.20-0.30, 0.30-0.40, 0.40-0.60, 0.60-0.80 and 0.80-1.0 m. The chemical attributes evaluated were pH, Ca, Mg, Al, P, K and Na, potential acidity, base sum, base saturation and soil cation exchange capacity (CEC). The levels of P, in the 0.00-0.10 m layer, were higher in the ICLF system than those of the native forest with babassu. The levels of K in the ICLF system and degraded pasture were higher than the other land uses up to a depth of 0.40 m, ranging from 0.92 cmolc dm-3 to 0.62 cmolc dm-3 and 1.04 cmolc dm-3 and 0.67 cmolc dm-3, respectively. Base saturation was higher in soils under ICLF system and degraded pasture than those observed in native forest and capoeira vegetation. There was an effect in chemical attributes of the soil such as a function of land use and, in general, the highest values were found in areas with degraded pasture and ICLF.