Forest–Fruticulture Conversion Alters Soil Traits and Soil Organic Matter Compartments

• Published in: Plants (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 21; p. 2917
• Main Authors: Enck, Bruna Firmino, Campos, Milton Cesar Costa, Pereira, Marcos Gervásio, de Souza, Fernando Gomes, Santos, Otavio Augusto Queiroz, Diniz, Yan Vidal de Figueiredo Gomes, Martins, Thalita Silva, Cunha, José Mauricio, Lima, Alan Ferreira Leite de, Souza, Tancredo Augusto Feitosa de
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 29-10-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Acidic soils; Acids; Agricultural research; Amazon Tropical Rainforest; Biodiversity; Biodiversity loss; Bixa orellana; Brazil; Bulk density; Calcium ions; Carbon; Carbon content; Compartments; Conversion; Deforestation; Deposition; Dietary minerals; Ecosystems; Endemic plants; Endemic species; Environmental aspects; Farming systems; Flowers & plants; Forests and forestry; Fulvic acids; Germany; Humic acid; Humic acids; Humus; Land use; Magnesium; Moisture effects; Orchards; Organic matter; Organic soils; Paullinia cupana; Plant species; Plant-soil relationships; Porosity; Rain forests; Rainforests; Soil depth; Soil erosion; Soil fertility; Soil moisture; Soil organic matter; Soil porosity; Soil structure; Soils; Theobroma grandiflorum; tropical soil functioning; Tropical Ultisols; Variance analysis; Brazil; Germany
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants11212917

Fruticulture in the Amazonian Rainforest is one of the main causes of deforestation, biodiversity loss, and soil erosion. Fruticulture plays a key role in the soil traits and soil organic matter (SOM) compartments by altering the soil ecosystem. Our aim was to assess the influence of Forest–Fruticulture conversion on soil traits, and SOM fractions in Brazil’s Legal Amazon. The experiment was carried out in field conditions using four land uses as main treatments: Bixa orellana, Theobroma grandiflorum, Paullinia cupana, and the Amazon Rainforest. The soil physicochemical traits were analyzed using samples that were collected from 0–5, 5–10, and 10–20 cm soil depth by using grids (10 × 10 m) with 36 sampling points. Our results showed that the Fruticulture promoted an increase in bulk density, GMD, aggregate diameter, soil porosity, gravimetric moisture, sand, clay, carbon associated with humic acid, and, the sum of bases (K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+), while the Amazon Rainforest showed the highest values of silt, soil P content, SOC, p-SOC, m-SOC, carbon associated with fulvic acid, humine, and soil C stock. Overall, the fruticulture farming systems have negative effects on SOM compartments. The results of our study highlight the importance of considering fruticulture with endemic plant species by promoting soil fertility and soil aggregation.