Effect of Acacia mangium Canopy on Physicochemical Characteristics and Nutrient Concentrations of the Soil at Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Malaysia

Abstract

The establishment of an Acacia mangium plantation often alters physicochemical characteristics and nutrient concentrations of soils. We aimed to evaluate the invasive potential of A. mangium forest on the soil in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Peninsular, Malaysia. To achieve the mentioned target, four different regions, namely, the open ground region (OG), Acacia mangium region (AM), transition region (TZ), and native forest region (NF), were selected and each of the regions was divided into six plots. Composite samples were randomly taken from subplots at 0–15 cm depth (topsoil) and 15–30 cm depth (subsoil). Some physicochemical properties such as soil moisture and texture, textural classification, bulk density and particle density, pH, electric conductivity (EC), exchangeable bases (EB) (Ca, Mg and K), cation exchange capacity (CEC), organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), and available phosphorous (Av. P) were analyzed. The results of our study showed that the soil of the AM region, which was clay loam, contained clay (51%), silt (32%), and sand (16%). The chemical analysis of topsoil showed significant differences in terms of OM%, exchangeable- Ca, Mg, K (molc kg−1), N (%), gravitational water content (GWC), and Avail. P between all four regions. Additionally, the highest pH and OM of topsoil were seen in the AM region with 4.5% and 4.33%, respectively. In the subsoil, there were significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) in terms of EC (ds/m), OM (%), Exchangeable- Ca, Mg and K (cmolc kg−1), GWC, available phosphorus, and N (%) between all four regions. The highest GWC, N (%), and Ca (cmolc kg−1) were observed in the AM region with 16.00, 0.14%, and 0.64 cmolc kg−1, respectively. These results showed that A. mangium changed some soil characteristics due to its invasion potential. In summary, A. mangium showed high adaptability on degraded forest land and high ability to accumulate the soil physicochemical properties to enhance its growth.

Differential Impacts of Acacia Invasion on Nutrient Fluxes in Two Distinct Bornean Lowland Tropical Rain Forests

“…Our results have demonstrated that Acacia invasion impacted N cycling but did not appear to significantly impact P cycling except for causing increased P addition in AMDF. We suggest that elevated N produced by Acacia invasion can result in an N/P imbalance [101] in the invaded habitats. This imbalance affects nutrient mineralization rates and carbon sequestration but may also impact soil microbial communities and nutrient pools [114].…”

“…Increased production of litter with high nutrient concentrations in the two Acacia-invaded habitats implies that Acacia invasion has major impacts on biogeochemical cycling [24,99], resulting in both high litter accumulation and an up-regulation of net primary productivity. One effect of the increased production of N-rich litter may be a transition to the more open biogeochemical cycling of N and increased organic and available N concentrations in the soil [32,[99][100][101] in response to Acacia invasion.…”

Changes in Ecosystem Service Values in Response to the Planting of Eucalyptus and Acacia Species in the Gilgel Abay Watershed, Northwest Ethiopia

“…Cultivation of acacia species significantly restores nutrient cycling in degraded soils to improve their growth (Hamad-Sheip et al, 2021). Planting increased soil fertility in terms of nitrogen (N), potassium (P), and soil organic carbon (SOC) compared with adjacent control fields (Ahmed et al, 2020).…”

“…Planting increased soil fertility in terms of nitrogen (N), potassium (P), and soil organic carbon (SOC) compared with adjacent control fields (Ahmed et al, 2020). Soil pH, cation exchange capacity, and phosphorus were also improved in acacia fields compared with adjacent soils (Amare et al, 2022;Hamad-Sheip et al, 2021). Improving soil fertility in acacia fields leads to increased annual crop yields (Chanie and Abewa, 2021).…”

“…Improving soil fertility in acacia fields leads to increased annual crop yields (Chanie and Abewa, 2021). The addition of acacia leaf residue was more effective for nitrogen fixation, SOC accumulation, nutrient availability, and soil moisture improvement than acacia eucalyptus species (Castro-Díez et al, 2021;Hamad-Sheip et al, 2021;Nigussie et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2018).…”