Changes in Soil Properties under Two Different Management Systems in the Western Amazon

Upland soils in the Amazon basin are often highly weathered and therefore possess low plant-available nutrient contents. Soil fertility is principally maintained by geo-chemical, biochemical, and biogeochemical processes. Within these processes, the soil microbial biomass is responsible for many of the cycles and transformations of nutrients in soils. The aim of this work was to evaluate the changes in soil fertility, in the form of nitrogen (N) and microbial activity, as indicators of the dynamic of carbon (C) with two extractants [irradiation extraction (IE) and IRGA methods], N, and phosphorus (P) in an upland soil area containing a dystrophic Yellow Latosol (Xanthic Ferralsol) in the western Amazon (Brazil) with succession of two plant covers (citrus or pasture) and management. The study was carried out in two chronosequences: primary forest followed by citrus plantations and primary forest followed by pasture. The results showed that pasture has greater capacity to accumulate organic C and total N than either primary forest or citrus plantation. Removing forest to introduce pasture or citrus plantations influences the soil fertility and microbial biomass of C, N, and P in the soil. Under the edaphoclimatic conditions, the irradiation extraction and IRGA methods all proved efficient in determining the soil microbial C activity. In addition, regardless of the depth of soil, the predominant N form is ammonium (NH4+).