Soil Quality Changes within a (Nothofagus obliqua) Forest Under Silvopastoral Management in the Andes Mountain Range, South Central Chile

Juan Ortiz, Francis Dube, Pablo Neira, Marcelo Panichini, Neal B. Stolpe, Erick Zagal and Pedro A. Martínez-Hernández
Additional contact information
Juan Ortiz: Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Concepción, Victoria 631, Casilla 160-C, 4030000 Concepción, Bio Bio Region, Chile
Francis Dube: Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Concepción, Victoria 631, Casilla 160-C, 4030000 Concepción, Bio Bio Region, Chile
Pablo Neira: Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Concepción, Victoria 631, Casilla 160-C, 4030000 Concepción, Bio Bio Region, Chile
Marcelo Panichini: National Agricultural Research Institute (INIA) Quilamapu, Vicente Méndez 515, 3812120 Chillan, Ñuble Region, Chile
Neal B. Stolpe: Soils and Natural Resources Department, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Concepción, Vicente Méndez 595, Casilla 537, 3812120 Chillan, Ñuble Region, Chile
Erick Zagal: Soils and Natural Resources Department, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Concepción, Vicente Méndez 595, Casilla 537, 3812120 Chillan, Ñuble Region, Chile
Pedro A. Martínez-Hernández: Department of Animal Husbandry, Chapingo Autonomous University, Km. 38.5, 56230 Mexico-Texcoco Road, Mexico

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-18

Abstract: In Chile, 49.1% of the national territory is affected by soil degradation (including erosion and loss of soil organic matter), whereby of the 51.7 Mha that have been historically associated with agricultural-livestock and forestry activities, only 35.5 Mha are being used at the present. Consequently, soil degradation has resulted in the release of about 11.8 Gg yr −1 of carbon (C) equivalent (CO 2eq ) to the atmosphere. Silvopastoral systems (SPS), however, can increase soil organic C (SOC) through sequestration (C→SOC), improve ecosystem services, and have been internationally recommended for sustainable land use. Therefore, it was proposed to determine the effects of SPS on soils, over five years, in degraded sites that were located in the Ranchillo Alto (SPS-RA) (37°04′52″ S, 71°39′14″ W), Ñuble region. The sites were rated according to previous canopy disturbance levels (+) as follows: open (O p )+++, semi open (SO p )++, and semi closed (SC)+. The analysis was performed on different physical and chemical soil properties (0–5 and 5–20 cm depths), that were expressed as soil indicators (S IND ) for chemical and physical properties, which were used to calculate a soil quality (SQ) index (SQI). The results indicated overall SQI values of 37.6 (SC) > 29.8 (O p ) > 28.8 (SO p ), but there were no significant variations ( p < 0.05) in physical SQ, whereas chemical SQ varied in all conditions, mostly at 0–5 cm in O p and SO p . Increases of SOC were also observed (2015–2018 period) of 22.5, 14.5, and 4.8 Mg ha −1 for SO p , O p , and SC, respectively, showing that SPS promote the reclamation of Ranchillo Alto soils.

Keywords: agroforestry systems; sustainable land management; C sequestration; Andisols (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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