Conversion of cerrado into agricultural land in the south-western Amazon: carbon stocks and soil fertility

Land use change and land management practices can modify soil carbon (C) dynamics and soil fertility. This study evaluated the effect of tillage systems (no-tillage - NT and conventional tillage - CT) on soil C and nutrient stocks in an Oxisol from an Amazonian cerrado following land use change. The study also identified relationships between these stocks and other soil attributes. Carbon, P, K, Ca and Mg stocks, adjusted to the equivalent soil mass in the cerrado (CE), were higher under NT. After adoption of all but one of the NT treatments, C stocks were higher than they were in the other areas we considered. Correlations between C and nutrient stocks showed positive correlations with Ca and Mg under NT due to continuous liming, higher crop residue inputs and lack of soil disturbance, associated with positive correlations with cation exchange capacity (CEC), base saturation and pH. The positive correlation (r = 0.91, p < 0.05) between C stocks and CEC in the CE indicates the important contribution of soil organic matter (SOM) to CEC in tropical soils, although the exchange sites are - under natural conditions - mainly occupied by H and Al. Phosphorus and K stocks showed positive correlations (0.81 and 0.82, respectively) with C stocks in the CE, indicating the direct relationship of P and K with SOM in natural ecosystems. The high spatial variability of P and K fertilizer application may be obscuring these soil nutrient stocks. In this study, the main source of P and K was fertilizer rather than SOM.

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Agroforestry and the Improvement of Soil Fertility: A View from Amazonia

Applied and Environmental Soil Science ◽

10.1155/2012/616383 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Rachel C. Pinho ◽

Robert P. Miller ◽

Sonia S. Alfaia

Keyword(s):

Soil Fertility ◽

Management Practices ◽

Relevant Literature ◽

Chemical Properties ◽

Tropical Soils ◽

Agroforestry Systems ◽

Natural Ecosystems ◽

Practical Applications ◽

Northern Brazil ◽

Physical And Chemical

This paper discusses the effects of trees on soil fertility, with a focus on agricultural systems in Amazonia. Relevant literature concerning the effects of trees on soil physical and chemical properties in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions is reviewed, covering both natural ecosystems and agroecosystems. Soil carbon, in the form of organic matter, is considered as an indicator of biological activity as well as in relation to policy issues such as carbon sequestration and climate change. In the case of tropical soils and Amazonia, information on the effects of trees on soils is discussed in the context of traditional agriculture systems, as well as in regard to the development of more sustainable agricultural alternatives for the region. Lastly, attention is given to a case study in the savanna region of Roraima, northern Brazil, where a chronosequence of indigenous homegarden agroforestry systems showed clear effects of management practices involving trees on soil fertility. The use of diverse tree species and other practices employed in agroforestry systems can represent alternative forms of increasing soil fertility and maintaining agricultural production, with important practical applications for the sustainability of tropical agriculture.

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Tipping point dynamics in global land use

Environmental Research Letters ◽

10.1088/1748-9326/ac3c6d ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (12) ◽

pp. 125012

Author(s):

Charles A Taylor ◽

James Rising

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Economic Development ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Low Income ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Tipping Point ◽

Critical Threshold ◽

Natural Ecosystems ◽

Global Land

Abstract Agricultural land use has recently peaked, both globally and across country income groups, after centuries of expansion and intensification. Such shifts in the evolution of global land use have implications for food security, biodiversity loss, and carbon emissions. While economic growth and land use are closely linked, it is difficult to determine the extent to which the relationship is causal, deterministic, and unidirectional. Here we utilize gridded datasets to study long-term global land use change from 1780 to 2010. We find evidence for an economic tipping point, where land use intensifies with economic development at low income levels, then reverses after incomes reach a critical threshold. Cropland peaks around $5000 GDP per capita then declines. We utilize a Markov model to show that this reversal emerges from a variety of divergent land use pathways, in particular the expansion of protected areas and a reduction in land use lock-in. Our results suggest that economic development remains a powerful driver of land use change with implications for the future of natural ecosystems in the context of continued population and income growth.

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Agroforestry Systems of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: Land Use for Biocultural Diversity Conservation

Land ◽

10.3390/land8020024 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 24

Author(s):

Mariana Vallejo ◽

M. Isabel Ramírez ◽

Alejandro Reyes-González ◽

Jairo López-Sánchez ◽

Alejandro Casas

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Agroforestry Systems ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Biocultural Diversity ◽

Semiarid Region ◽

Agricultural Land Use ◽

Visual Interpretation ◽

Natural Ecosystems ◽

Human Settlements

The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, Mexico, is the semiarid region with the richest biodiversity of North America and was recently recognized as a UNESCO's World Heritage site. Original agricultural practices remain to this day in agroforestry systems (AFS), which are expressions of high biocultural diversity. However, local people and researchers perceive a progressive decline both in natural ecosystems and AFS. To assess changes in location and extent of agricultural land use, we carried out a visual interpretation of very-high resolution imagery and field work, through which we identified AFS and conventional agricultural systems (CAS) from 1995 to 2003 and 2012. We analyzed five communities, representative of three main ecological and agricultural zones of the region. We assessed agricultural land use changes in relation to conspicuous landscape features (relief, rivers, roads, and human settlements). We found that natural ecosystems cover more than 85% of the territory in each community, and AFS represent 51% of all agricultural land. Establishment and permanence of agricultural lands were strongly influenced by gentle slopes and the existence of roads. Contrary to what we expected, we recorded agricultural areas being abandoned, thus favoring the regeneration of natural ecosystems, as well as a 9% increase of AFS over CAS. Agriculture is concentrated near human settlements. Most of the studied territories are meant to preserve natural ecosystems, and traditional AFS practices are being recovered for biocultural conservation.

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Divergent response of heavy metal bioavailability in soil rhizosphere to agricultural land use change from paddy field to various drylands

Environmental Science Processes & Impacts ◽

10.1039/d0em00501k ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yujuan Gao ◽

Jianli Jia ◽

Beidou Xi ◽

Dongyu Cui ◽

Wenbing Tan

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Heavy Metal ◽

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Rhizosphere Soil ◽

Agricultural Land Use ◽

Metal Bioavailability ◽

Soil Rhizosphere ◽

Divergent Response

The heavy metal pollution induced by agricultural land use change has attracted great attention. In this study, the divergent response of bioavailability of heavy metals in rhizosphere soil to different...

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Agricultural land-use change and rotation system exert considerable influences on the soil antibiotic resistome in Lake Tai Basin

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144848 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 771 ◽

pp. 144848

Author(s):

Wei-Guo Zhang ◽

Tao Wen ◽

Li-Zhu Liu ◽

Jiang-Ye Li ◽

Yan Gao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Agricultural Land Use ◽

Rotation System

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Soil respiration under different agricultural land use types in Croatia

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-15734 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Darija Bilandžija ◽

Marija Galić ◽

Željka Zgorelec

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Soil Respiration ◽

Management Practices ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Energy Crop ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Uncertainty Estimates

<p>In order to mitigate climate change and reduce the anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the Kyoto protocol has been adopted in 1997 and the Paris Agreement entered into force in 2016. The Paris Agreement have ratified 190 out of 197 Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Croatia is one of them as well. Each Party has obliged regularly to submit the national inventory report (NIR) providing the information on the national anthropogenic GHG emissions by sources and removals by sinks to the UNFCCC. Reporting under the NIR is divided into six categories / sectors, and one of them is land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector, where an issue of uncertainty estimates on carbon emissions and removals occurs. As soil respiration represents the second-largest terrestrial carbon flux, the national studies on soil respiration can reduce the uncertainty and improve the estimation of country-level carbon fluxes. Due to the omission of national data, the members of the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture, Department of General Agronomy have started to study soil respiration rates in 2012, and since then many different studies on soil respiration under different agricultural land uses (i.e. annual crops, energy crop and vineyard), management practices (i.e. tillage and fertilization) and climate conditions (i.e. continental and mediterranean) in Croatia have been conducted. The obtained site specific results on field measurements of soil carbon dioxide concentrations by <em>in situ</em> closed static chamber method will be presented in this paper.</p>

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ANALYSIS OF DYNAMICS OF LAND USE STRUCTURE AND SOIL FERTILITY INDICATORS OVER THE KLYAZMA RIVER BASIN

Bulletin оf Kamchatka State Technical University ◽

10.17217/2079-0333-2021-56-88-98 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 88-98

Author(s):

I.N. Kurochkin ◽

◽

E.Yu. Kulagina ◽

N.V. Chugay ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Fertility ◽

River Basin ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Livestock Grazing ◽

Land Use Structure ◽

Vladimir Region ◽

Fallow Lands ◽

Analysis Of Dynamics

The main trends in changing the land use structure in the territory of the Klyazma River basin were de-scribed in the article. Using GIS technologies and remote sensing data the areas of land with different land use regimes in the studied territory were determined in the period from 2001 to 2019. The indices of LAI and FPAR phytoproductivity for the territory of the Klyazma basin as a whole, and for each basin included in it were determined. The analysis of the dynamics of changes occurring in the structure of land use is carried out. For the territory of Vladimir region, which is a part of the Klyazma River basin, an assessment of soil types distribution over occupied area was carried out. An integral indicator of soil fertility was calcu-lated on the basis of statistical data of agrochemical indicators. The fraction of fallow lands decreased by 2019 and it amounts 33.76% of the total area of the studied territory. The fraction of mixed forests increased from 38.48% in 2001 to 44.50% in 2019 due to the formation of fast-growing tree species shoots on fallow lands. The area of meadow vegetation for the period from 2015 to 2019 decreased by 3.5%, from 4 276 to 3 121 km2, due to agriculture degradation and a significant decrease in livestock grazing. The indicator of soil fertility for the Klyazma basin was 0.74, which is a high indicator. It is established that the most active decrease in the agricultural land area occurs in the central, north-western and western parts of the river basin.

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Vegetation Effects on Soil Properties in the Monteagle Sandy Loam Series: Implications for Land‐use Change

Inquiry@Queen's Undergraduate Research Conference Proceedings ◽

10.24908/iqurcp.7470 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Allison Neil

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Organic Matter ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Sugar Maple ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Deciduous Forest ◽

Coniferous Forest ◽

The Impact

Soil properties are strongly influenced by the composition of the surrounding vegetation. We investigated soil properties of three ecosystems; a coniferous forest, a deciduous forest and an agricultural grassland, to determine the impact of land use change on soil properties. Disturbances such as deforestation followed by cultivation can severely alter soil properties, including losses of soil carbon. We collected nine 40 cm cores from three ecosystem types on the Roebuck Farm, north of Perth Village, Ontario, Canada. Dominant species in each ecosystem included hemlock and white pine in the coniferous forest; sugar maple, birch and beech in the deciduous forest; grasses, legumes and herbs in the grassland. Soil pH varied little between the three ecosystems and over depth. Soils under grassland vegetation had the highest bulk density, especially near the surface. The forest sites showed higher cation exchange capacity and soil moisture than the grassland; these differences largely resulted from higher organic matter levels in the surface forest soils. Vertical distribution of organic matter varied greatly amongst the three ecosystems. In the forest, more of the organic matter was located near the surface, while in the grassland organic matter concentrations varied little with depth. The results suggest that changes in land cover and land use alters litter inputs and nutrient cycling rates, modifying soil physical and chemical properties. Our results further suggest that conversion of forest into agricultural land in this area can lead to a decline in soil carbon storage.

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