Assessment of Soil Quality in Andosols Using Silvopastoral Systems

Abstract

Background:An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of redesign and management upon soil quality variation using three agroecosystems: agro-ecosystem A1 (grasses, Alnus acuminata Kunth); agro-ecosystem A2 (grasses, Acacia melanoxylon R. Br.) and agro-ecosystem A3 (Rangeland). Methods:The trees were planted along the contour lines in December 2015. The total area was divided into three agro-ecosystems (AES). These consisted of 7.50, 4.64 and 6.25 ha managed with ten to eleven cows in A1, A2 and A3 respectively. The AES were divided into paddocks by means of electric fences. Composite soil samples were evaluated at the baseline and ten months later. Principles of rational grass management were applied with low input sustainable agriculture. The tree population density was 1000 ha -1 , planted in double rows, separated two meters apart. The genetic composition of dairy cows was 80 and 20% of Holstein and crossbreed Holstein x Jersey, respectively. Results:The effect of interaction between AES x year was not found. The effect of the agro-ecosystems upon the soil quality only showed significant differences (p <0.05) in pH (5.

Análisis de las poblaciones edáficas en suelos con sistemas silvopastoriles dedicados a la producción lechera, en la finca San Vicente, El Carmelo, Ecuador

“…El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar las poblaciones edáficas en función del sistema silvopastoril y determinar cuál presenta mayor diversidad biológica. En la zona de estudio se ha realizado investigaciones que han comprobado la potencialidad de los sistemas silvopastoriles en zonas andinas (Rosales et al, 2018). Por lo tanto, fue necesario realizar un análisis estadístico correspondiente a tres años, con respecto a las poblaciones de biota del suelo, mediante muestreos por época del año y por sistema silvopastoril, para luego poder concluir sobre la condición del agroecosistema.…”