Soil Quality in Relation to Forest Conversion to Perennial or Annual Cropping in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Many forested areas have been converted to intensive agricultural use to satisfy food, fiber, and forage production for a growing world population. There is great interest in evaluating forest conversion to cultivated land because this conversion adversely affects several soil properties. We examined soil microbial, physical, and chemical properties in an Oxisol (Latossolo Vermelho distrófico) of southern Brazil 24 years after forest conversion to a perennial crop with coffee or annual grain crops (maize and soybeans) in conventional tillage or no-tillage. One goal was to determine which soil quality parameters seemed most sensitive to change. A second goal was to test the hypothesis that no-tillage optimized preservation of soil quality indicators in annual cropping systems on converted land. Land use significantly affected microbial biomass and its activity, C and n mineralization, and aggregate stability by depth. Cultivated sites had lower microbial biomass and mineralizable C and N than a forest used as control. The forest and no-tillage sites had higher microbial biomass and mineralizable C and N than the conventional tillage site, and the metabolic quotient was 65 and 43 % lower, respectively. Multivariate analysis of soil microbial properties showed a clear separation among treatments, displaying a gradient from conventional tillage to forest. Although the soil at the coffee site was less disturbed and had a high organic C content, the microbial activity was low, probably due to greater soil acidity and Al toxicity. Under annual cropping, microbial activity in no-tillage was double that of the conventional tillage management. The greater microbial activity in forest and no-tillage sites may be attributed,

Long‐term perennial management and cropping effects on soil microbial biomass for claypan watersheds

“…Microbial biodiversity is the mix of living soil microbes belowground and includes bacteria, fungi, rhizobia, arbuscular mycorrhizae, saprophytes, and other microbial groups (Roesch et al., 2007). Planting and growing perennial vegetative management systems (e.g., agroforestry, grass, and biomass/biofuel management practices) can contribute by (i) enhancing the quantity of soil microbial biomass belowground (Balota et al., 2015; Lovell & Sullivan, 2006; Milne & Haynes, 2004; Unger, Goyne, Kremer, & Kennedy, 2013; Veum et al., 2015), (ii) increasing soil organic C (SOC) inputs (Udawatta, Kremer, Adamson, & Anderson, 2008; Veum, Goyne, Kremer, & Motavalli, 2012), and (iii) improving overall soil quality (Alagele, Anderson, Udawatta, Veum, & Rankoth, 2019a; Weerasekara, Udawatta, Jose, Kremer, & Weerasekara, 2016).…”

“…Perennial warm‐season grasses (e.g., switchgrass) have also been widely investigated as a biofuel feedstock that benefits soil and the environment (Blanco‐Canqui, Mitchell, Jin, Schmer, & Eskridge, 2017; Zaibon et al., 2017). These perennial management systems enhance several aspects of soil and environmental quality, including soil microbial biomass (Acosta‐Martínez, Zobeck, & Allen, 2004; Alagele et al., 2019a; Veum, Goyne, Kremer, Miles, & Sudduth, 2014; Balota et al., 2015).…”

“…Although establishing conservation vegetative management systems has been shown to increase SOC and thus to enhance soil and water quality (Alagele et al., 2019a; Veum et al., 2012; Weerasekara et al., 2016), more studies are needed for a comprehensive understanding of the impact of perennial vegetation systems on soil microbial biomass (Balota et al., 2015; Lovell & Sullivan, 2006; Veum et al., 2015). The application of soil microbial biomass analysis by PLFA profiling has not been studied extensively in perennial vegetation systems or biomass crops (BCs) on claypan soils.…”

Microbiological attributes of yellow oxissol under different monocultures in the savanna region of Piauí state

“…Moreover, the low level of moisture in these soils due to the absence of rain in this period is another determining factor for high respiratory activity in these areas. In turn, in the eucalyptus monoculture the fire occurring in the dry period was undoubtedly detrimental, given that the respiratory rate of the microbiota increased, leading to losses in C in the form of C-CO 2 in this system, as also observed by Balota et al, (2015).…”

Calidad de suelos bajo dos esquemas de manejo en ncas cafeteras del sur de Colombia.

“…La calidad del suelo se relaciona con la capacidad de proveer las condiciones para un buen desarrollo del ecosistema (Idowu et al, 2009;Bone et al, 2014;Balota et al, 2015), así como para las distintas coberturas productivas. Esta característica implica fusionar los diferentes atributos químicos, físicos y biológicos, de modo tal que tengan la capacidad de describir procesos del ecosistema en un indicador que explique su óptimo funcionamiento (Andrews et al, 2002;Gugino et al, 2009); para ello se han propuesto varios marcos conceptuales para monitoreo de la calidad del suelo (Andrews et al, 2004;Velásquez et al, 2007;Nosrati, 2013;Veum et al, 2014).…”