Soil erosion under teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) plantations: General patterns, assumptions and controversies

Fernández-Moya, Jesús; Alvarado, Alfredo; Forsythe, Warren; Ramírez, Laura; Algeet-Abarquero, Nur; Marchamalo, Miguel

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2014.08.010

Cited by 24 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…With teak native forests disappearing, teak plantations are expanding and now cover 4.3⋅10 6 ha ( Fernández-Moya et al, 2014 ). Establishing mixed plantations as alternatives to mono-species teak stands would guarantee economic returns without a subsequent impoverishment of soil fertility.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree Plantation Systems Influence Nitrogen Retention and the Abundance of Nitrogen Functional Genes in the Solomon Islands

et al. 2015

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Tree mono-plantations are susceptible to soil nutrient impoverishment and mixed species plantations have been proposed as a way of maintaining soil fertility while enhancing biodiversity. In the Solomon Islands, mixed species plantations where teak (Tectona grandis) is inter-planted with a local tree species (Flueggea flexuosa) have been used as an alternative to teak mono-plantations and are expected to increase soil microbial diversity and modify microbial biogeochemical processes. In this study, we quantified the abundance of microbial functional genes involved in the nitrogen (N) cycle from soil samples collected in teak, flueggea, and mixed species plantations. Furthermore, we measured soil properties such as pH, total carbon (C) and total N, stable N isotope composition (δ15N), and inorganic N pools. Soil pH and δ15N were higher under teak than under flueggea, which indicates that intercropping teak with flueggea may decrease bacterial activities and potential N losses. Higher C:N ratios were found under mixed species plantations than those under teak, suggesting an enhancement of N immobilization that would help preventing fast N losses. However, inorganic N pools remained unaffected by plant cover. Inter-planting teak with flueggea in mixed species plantations generally increased the relative abundance of denitrification genes and promoted the enrichment of nosZ-harboring denitrifiers. However, it reduced the abundance of bacterial amoA (ammonia monooxygenase) genes compared to teak mono-plantations. The abundance of most denitrification genes correlated with soil total N and C:N ratio, while bacterial and archeal nitrification genes correlated positively with soil NH4+ concentrations. Altogether, these results show that the abundance of bacterial N-cycling functional guilds vary under teak and under mixed species plantations, and that inter-planting teak with flueggea may potentially alleviate N losses associated with nitrification and denitrification and favor N retention. Mixed plantations could also allow an increase in soil C and N stocks without losing the source of income that teak trees represent for local communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree Plantation Systems Influence Nitrogen Retention and the Abundance of Nitrogen Functional Genes in the Solomon Islands

et al. 2015

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“…Teak (Tectonia grandis L.f.) plantations, for example, have often been associated with high erosion rates because of lack of understorey and large tree leaves (Calder, 2001). But a recent study showed that poor vegetation and soil management rather than intrinsic teak leaf morphology was responsible for those high erosion rates (Fernández-Moya et al, 2014).…”

Section: What Matters In Soil Erosion Control By Vegetation?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil erosion in the humid tropics: A systematic quantitative review

Labrière

Locatelli

Laumonier

et al. 2015

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

292

129

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As Healthy soils provide a wide range of ecosystem services. But soil erosion (one component of land degradation) jeopardizes the sustainable delivery of these services worldwide, and particularly in the humid tropics where erosion potential is high due to heavy rainfall. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment pointed out the role of poor land-use and management choices in increasing land degradation. We hypothesized that land use has a limited influence on soil erosion provided vegetation cover is developed enough or good management practices are implemented. We systematically reviewed the literature to study how soil and vegetation management influence soil erosion control in the humid tropics. More than 3600 measurements of soil loss from 55 references covering 21 countries were compiled. Quantitative analysis of the collected data revealed that soil erosion in the humid tropics is dramatically concentrated in space (over landscape elements of bare soil) and time (e.g. during crop rotation). No land use is erosion-prone per se, but creation of bare soil elements in the landscape through particular land uses and other human activities (e.g. skid trails and logging roads) should be avoided as much as possible. Implementation of sound practices of soil and vegetation management (e.g. contour planting, no-till farming and use of vegetative buffer strips) can reduce erosion by up to 99%. With limited financial and technical means, natural resource managers and policy makers can therefore help decrease soil loss at a large scale by promoting wise management of highly erosion-prone landscape elements and enhancing the use of low-erosion-inducing practices. (Résumé d'auteur

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“…Teak trees were also pruned to maintain 4.9 m (16 ft) of a branch free bole. Teak is characterized as dry season deciduous, but we found it does not lose all of its leaves at once at our site (Fernández-Moya et al, 2014). The topography of the area is characterized by both flat areas and areas with short and steep slopes (Hassler et al, 2011;Mayoral et al, 2018) and the soils are silt clay to clay with pH values ranging from 4.4 to 5.8 (Batterman et al, 2018).…”

Section: Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Drought Effects on Tectona grandis Water Regulation Are Mediated by Thinning, but the Effects of Thinning Are Temporary

Sinacore¹,

Breton²,

Asbjornsen³

et al. 2019

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Results from tropical planted forests have demonstrated that tree plantations can have variable growth and water use patterns in response to drought. Yet research on how specific species will perform during a drought and whether this response can be mediated through forest management is still poorly understood. We took advantage of the 2015-2016 El Niño drought in central Panama to test the effects of thinning on sap flux density, transpiration, and growth of planted Tectona grandis (teak), a non-native species introduced to Panama for timber production. Despite a reduction in growth of teak during drought for control and thinned sites, tree sap flux density of thinned sights significantly increased after thinning, but the effect was temporary. Sap flux density (J s ) for teak is strongly driven by changes in vapor pressure deficit (VPD), temperature, and radiation; however, J s declines as temperature rises above 28 • C and VPD is above 0.5, suggesting a temperature threshold that could be problematic as droughts and temperatures increase in unison in the future. At the stand-level, all sites reduced transpiration during the drought. Although diameter growth and transpiration declined during drought, the leaf area index after the drought ended returned to pre-drought levels.

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Soil erosion under teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) plantations: General patterns, assumptions and controversies

Cited by 24 publications

References 18 publications

Tree Plantation Systems Influence Nitrogen Retention and the Abundance of Nitrogen Functional Genes in the Solomon Islands

Tree Plantation Systems Influence Nitrogen Retention and the Abundance of Nitrogen Functional Genes in the Solomon Islands

Soil erosion in the humid tropics: A systematic quantitative review

Drought Effects on Tectona grandis Water Regulation Are Mediated by Thinning, but the Effects of Thinning Are Temporary

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