Silvopastoral Systems Enhance Soil Health in the Amazon Region

Abstract

Silvopastoral systems (SPS), an integrated farming system in which tropical grasses are combined with trees and shrubs, have been implemented in the last years in the Amazon region in order to mitigate the impacts generated by the traditional cattle ranching system. However, despite the multiple SPS’s benefits to soil and ecosystem, there is a paucity of comprehensive studies revealing the potential soil health (SH) restoration through SPS. Here, by developing an overall SH index using local native vegetation (Amazon rainforest) as a reference, we aimed to assess SH changes induced by the land transition from the traditional livestock production system to the SPS in the Colombian Amazon region. A chronosequence conformed by three areas: (i) native vegetation, (ii) traditional pasture and (iii) silvopastoral system was established in two study sites located in the Colombian Amazon, specifically in Caquetá State, the second hotspot of deforestation in the Amazon Basin. The results indicated high soil compaction and loss of macrofauna diversity and richness due to pasture management, causing a loss of 9% of soil capacity to function. In contrast, by integrating 31 soil indicators, our SH assessment revealed that SPS was an effective strategy for the recovery of SH, impacting positively multiple soil functions related to nutrient dynamics, water retention and supply, and biological activity.

Temperate fruit farming in fragile lands of the Northwestern Himalayan region: Implications for subsoil nutrient availability, nutrient stock and soil quality

“…Our study clearly demonstrated wide variations in physical and chemical properties of soil across various land use systems down the soil profile. The literature also suggests that the physico‐chemical properties of soil vary depending upon existing land use and its management regimes (Chisanga et al, 2018; Juhos et al, 2019; Silva‐Olaya et al, 2022). The observed range of BD, porosity and pH in this study corroborates well with the previous studies on various land use systems ranging from agricultural, horticultural, pasture, fallow/wasteland to rangeland of the NWH region (Bargali et al, 2019; Bargali & Bargali, 2020; Debnath, Narayan, et al, 2020; Loria et al, 2016; Meena et al, 2018).…”

“…Land use and its management not only changes the nutrients' availability (Dad & Abdollahi, 2021; Loria et al, 2016; Silva‐Olaya et al, 2022), their stocks (Chatterjee et al, 2020; Powlson et al, 2022), and stoichiometry (Buchkowski et al, 2019) in soils but also it is equally important to evaluate their impacts on the ability of the soil to function, that is, soil quality (Basak et al, 2021; Bhaduri & Purakayastha, 2014). Some of the soil parameters in these fragile land use systems might reflect an early sign of soil quality deterioration.…”

“…The soil quality index (SQI) is a tool that integrates datasets to a unit‐less number that can be used to compare one soil to another to better understand and evaluate the processes that either improve or degrade soils (Purakayastha et al, 2019; Silva‐Olaya et al, 2022; Vaidya et al, 2016). It is a comprehensive way to ascertain the environmental quality, agronomic sustainability, and socio‐economic viability of a region (Basak et al, 2021; Juhos et al, 2019).…”

Comparison of Correlations between Soil Physicochemical Properties and Diversity-Density of Soil Macrofauna in Juniper and Amygdalus Stands During the Growing and Resting Season (Case Study: Geno Protected Area, Hormozgan Province, Iran)

“…Our results also confirm the importance of nitrogen fixers to ecosystem function. In another study, Tsufac et al [21] found that t increasing tree species diversity and density leads to increasing soil macro-fauna diversity and density in cocoa-based agroforestry systems [22,23]. Sembiring et al [12] investigated soil macrofauna diversity after eight years of Mount Sinabong eruption in Sumatra, Indonesia.…”

Impact of soil nitrogen availability and pH on tropical heath forest organic matter decomposition and decomposer activity

“…Estos son un sistema de cultivo integrado en el que se combinan pastos tropicales, arbustos y árboles, no requieren labranza ni insumos químicos ya que los árboles y arbustos proporcionan grandes entradas de material orgánico y nutrientes al suelo (vía caída de hojarasca) , por lo que mejora las propiedades físico-químicas del suelo (León y . Desafortunadamente, poco se sabe acerca del efecto que puedan tener los SSP en la salud del suelo (Silva-Olaya et al, 2022).…”