Silvopastoral Systems Enhance Soil Health in the Amazon Region

Adriana M. Silva-Olaya, Andres Olaya-Montes, Karen L. Polanía-Hincapié, Maurício Roberto Cherubin, Ervin H. Duran-Bautista and Fausto A. Ortiz-Morea
Additional contact information
Adriana M. Silva-Olaya: Amazonian Research Center CIMAZ-MACAGUAL, University of Amazon, Street 17, Diagonal 17, Cr. 3F, Florencia 180001, Colombia
Andres Olaya-Montes: Amazonian Research Center CIMAZ-MACAGUAL, University of Amazon, Street 17, Diagonal 17, Cr. 3F, Florencia 180001, Colombia
Karen L. Polanía-Hincapié: Amazonian Research Center CIMAZ-MACAGUAL, University of Amazon, Street 17, Diagonal 17, Cr. 3F, Florencia 180001, Colombia
Maurício Roberto Cherubin: Department of Soil Science, ‘‘Luiz de Queiroz’’ College of Agriculture, University of Sao Paulo, 11 Páduas Dias Avenue, Piracicaba 13418-900, SP, Brazil
Ervin H. Duran-Bautista: Amazonian Research Center CIMAZ-MACAGUAL, University of Amazon, Street 17, Diagonal 17, Cr. 3F, Florencia 180001, Colombia
Fausto A. Ortiz-Morea: Amazonian Research Center CIMAZ-MACAGUAL, University of Amazon, Street 17, Diagonal 17, Cr. 3F, Florencia 180001, Colombia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-18

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.

Keywords: pastures; cattle ranching; soil quality; soil degradation; integrated production systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/1/320/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/1/320/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2021:i:1:p:320-:d:713317

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().