Effects of land use and land use change on soil properties in northeast rainforest landscapes of Madagascar
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Soil is a major natural resource acting as a key interface between climate and biogeochemical systems. Tavy system or slash-and-burn agriculture influences soil quality and is responsible for releases of carbon stored in the soil. This study aims to evaluate soil properties in each land use and to determine the impact of land use change on these soil properties. The study area was located in an area in the rainforest of northeastern of Madagascar. Soil samples were collected on 135 study sites composed of nine land use types including natural forest, three cropland stages, tree fallow, mixed fallow, grassland and two cash crop plantations (vanilla and coffee). Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy (MIRS) was used to estimate organic carbon (C org), total nitrogen (N tot), cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil texture and pH KCl, while available phosphorus (P Olsen), soil bulk density (BD) and soil carbon stock (SOC) for 0-30 cm and 0-100 cm were estimated with conventional methods. At plot scale and at 0-30 cm, soil in the study area relevant highly variability. Statistical analysis shows that land use change in tavy system contributes significantly to this variability with a p-value <0.001 for P Olsen, C org and N tot, p-value < 0.01 for pH KCl and p-value < 0.05 for CEC and BD. Soil nutrients (P Olsen, C org and N tot) decrease during cultivation period and increase during fallow periods. The CEC and pH KCl were stable but decline rapidly at the grassland stage. SOC for both depths declines over two periods: after the first cropland and the third cycle of cropland after deforestation. The presence of tree vegetation in cash crops (vanilla and coffee) maintains a mean value of soil properties. The results presented in this study will be useful for forest landscape management and will allow the integration of the soil pool in the accounting of the SOC flow in the implementation of REDD+.
Keywords: Agriculture, Biodiversity conservation, Climate change, Deforestation and forest degradation, Landscape management
ID: 3483094