Soil Enzymatic Activity in Eucalyptus Grandis Plantations of Different Ages

Abstract

AbstractEucalyptus plantations have become increasingly common in Latin America. However, because Eucalyptus is an exotic species, its presence has raised concerns about changes in the environment, especially to soil properties. The objective of this study was to investigate possible changes in selected soil enzyme activity after several years of Eucalyptus cultivation. Soil samples were collected from four locations: a native forest (Atlantic Forest) used as a reference for the original soil conditions and three E. grandis plantations aged 2, 3 and 5 years, established in 2008, 2007 and 2005, respectively. The native vegetation had been removed and the soil graded and ploughed to establish these plantations. We evaluated soil enzymatic activities (β‐glucosidase, acid phosphatase, dehydrogenase, urease and arylsulfatase) at each location. The activity of β‐glucosidase, phosphatase, dehydrogenase and urease was improved after 5 years, whereas arylsulphatase was impacted negatively. The multivariate analysis showed that the majority of enzyme activities reached the values observed in native forest after the third year of reforestation. The activity of β‐glucosidase was crucial in differentiating the area with 2 years of reforestation from the native forest. The removal of native vegetation in order to establish commercial plantations raises concerns about the real impacts of this practice on the soil. In the present study, plantations of Eucalyptus improved most of the selected enzyme activities after the third year of reforestation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.