Soil and plant N-budget 1 year after planting of a slash-and-mulch agroforestry system in the eastern Amazon of Brazil
2013
Joslin, Aaron H. | Markewitz, Daniel | Morris, Lawrence A. | de A. Oliveira, Francisco | Figuereido, Ricardo O. | Kato, Oswaldo R.
Nutrient losses during slash-and-burn clearing in tropical forests, coupled with demand by food crops, can deplete nutrients and result in crop abandonment after 1-2 years. Slash-and-mulch technology prevents nutrient losses from burning, while mulch decomposition may serve as a nutrient source. This research investigates the release of nutrients from the mulch and potential uptake of released N by plant biomass after a multi-species agroforestry system was planted in June 2005, following the clearing of a 1 ha of 7-year-old forest with a mulching tractor in Igarapé Açu, Brazil. The study evaluated soil conditions, mulch decomposition, and nutrient concentrations of Manihot esculenta and native vegetation under treatments of P+K fertilization in combination with four native tree species and N-fixing Inga edulis, or with three native tree species without I. edulis. Mulch layer N, Ca and Mg content decreased in response to fertilization, while mulch layer P and K content increased. Nutrient content increased in M. esculenta stems and tubers with fertilization and in the presence of I. edulis, and in competing vegetation with fertilization. Estimated tree N content increased 311 % with fertilization, but by 154 % in the presence of I. edulis. Fertilization with P+K, as well as the presence of I. edulis, increased N stocks in total biomass. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
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