Proposed Soil Quality Index for Rehabilitated Tropical Forest Sites in Malaysia

Abstract

A proposed soil quality index named Tropical Soil Quality Index 2 (TSQI2) was developed in this study using statistical analysed data of selected properties (physical, chemical and biological) of composite soil samples collected from natural, secondary and rehabilitated forests of Chikus and Tapah Hill Forest Reserves, Perak, Malaysia. Results of soil evaluation using TSQI2 showed higher values for planted forest in Chikus Forest Reserve compared to those of the rehabilitated forest in Tapah Hill Forest Reserve. Likewise, rehabilitated forest of Tapah Hill Forest Reserve had slightly higher index value compared to that of the secondary forest. The higher index for rehabilitated Chikus Forest Reserve compared to that of the natural forest was due to high MBC/MBN ratio values. The reason for this condition was the lower amount of microbial biomass nitrogen as compared to microbial biomass carbon. Plant growth performance of dominant trees species showed that Shorea leprosula was high in natural forests, followed by rehabilitated forest of Tapah Hill Forest Reserve. The newly proposed TSQI2 (which had been validated using actual data) is suitable for determining the quality of natural and rehabilitated forests in tropical regions.

Effects of Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) Application on Oil Palm Yield, Soil Properties and Cost-Benefits Analysis

“…Soil samples were collected on the EFB application area and weeded circle at each treatment plot at the depth of 0 -30 cm using an Edelmann auger. The organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), soil acidity (pH), and cation exchange capacity were measured using standard soil analysis methods [8,9].…”

Impact of Forest Rehabilitation using Eucalyptus spp. on Soil Properties at Sg. Betis Forest Reserve, Lojing, Kelantan

“…Soil functions include sustaining biological diversity, activity and productivity. Soil should be able to regulate water as well as filtering, buffering, degrading organic and inorganic materials [10,11]. Eucalyptus was found to successfully grow on degraded parts of the Sg.…”

“…Composites soil samples were collected from three different adjacent plots at the depth of 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm depth (Table 1) [12][13][14]. Soil properties analysed include soil texture, bulk density, exchangeable bases and cation exchange capacity [15][16][17][18].…”

Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals Spiked Soil by Polyscias fruticose

“…Bioconcentration factor (BCF = Metal concentration in tissue of whole plant/Initial concentration of metal in soil) and translocation factor (TF = Shoot metal accumulation/ Root metal accumulation) were the two indices used to calculate the potential of P. fruticose to be a phytoextractor of the heavy metals or phytostabilizer 10,11 . Plants are suitable for phytoextraction if they have high BCF values greater than 1, and suitable for phytostabilization if BCF value is high and TF value is low 10 .…”