Agroforestry system improves soil carbon and nitrogen stocks in depth after land-use changes in the Brazilian semi-arid region

ABSTRACT Agroforestry systems have the potential to increase soil organic matter, with effects on soil carbon and nitrogen contents, but information on the application of these systems in semi-arid regions is still scarce. This study aimed to analyze soil carbon and nitrogen stocks in the conversion of native forest from the Caatinga Biome into integrated agriculture systems in the Brazilian semi-arid region. We evaluated the following management systems in the Haplic Inceptisol (Cambissolo Háplico eutrófico): (1) Intercropping area, cultivated with corn and Massai grass; (2) Caatinga (natural vegetation); (3) AFS10: agroforestry system with native woody forest rows occupying 33 % and agriculture occupying 66 % of the total area; and (4) AFS20: agroforestry system presenting inverse proportions of AFS10. The agroforestry systems were intercropped with sorghum or millet, pigeon pea and Massai grass. We collected disturbed and undisturbed soil samples at the layers of 0.00-0.10; 0.10-0.20; 0.20-0.40, 0.40-0.60 and 0.60-1.00 m for analysis of carbon (SOC), nitrogen (N), soil bulk density, and calculation of SOC and N stocks and C/N ratio, two years after the conversion of natural vegetation to the agricultural area (intercropping) and agroforestry system (AFS10 and AFS20). We applied principal component and cluster analysis to explore the data, and confidence interval to compare the means of accumulated SOC and N stocks up to 1 m soil depth. No differences exist for the properties analysed in superficial layers (0.00-0.10 and 0.10-0.20 m), regardless of land-use systems. AFS20 increase the SOC content and, consequently, SOC stock, in subsurface layers; on the other hand, intercropping increases N content and N stock. AFS20 presented higher accumulated SOC stocks up to 1.00 m (114.97 Mg ha-1). Agroforestry systems management is an alternative for increasing carbon sequestration under the conversion from Caatinga to agricultural areas.