Abstract
Soil samples from mature and secondary forests and agricultural sites in three subtropical life zones of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands were collected to determine the effects of forest conversion to agriculture and succession on soil organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents. Site characteristics that may affect soil C and N (slope, elevation, aspect, and texture) were as uniform as possible. Carbon contents (to 50 cm depth or bedrock) of cultivated sites, as a percent of corresponding mature forests, were lower in the wet (44%) and moist (31%) than in the dry (86%) life zones whereas N contents were relatively high regardless of life zone (60–130% of the mature forests). Conversion of forests to pasture resulted in less soil C and N loss than conversion to crops. The time for recovery of soil C and N during succession was approximately the same in all three life zones, about 40–50 yr for C about 15–20 yr for N. However, the rate of recovery of soil C was faster in the wet and moist life zone, whereas N appeared to recover faster in the dry life zone. Evidence for loss of soil C during cultivation and gain during succession to soil depths of 50–100 cm is presented.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Allen J C 1985 Soil response to forest clearing in the United States and the tropics: Geological and biological factors. Biotropica 17, 15–27.
Allison L E 1965 Organic carbon. In Methods of Soil Analysis. Ed. C ABlack. pp 1367–1378. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
Aweto A O 1981 Secondary succession and soil fertility restoration in south-western Nigeria. II. Soil fertility restoration. J. Ecol. 69, 609–614.
Ayanaba A, Tuckwell S B and Jenkinson D S 1976 The effects of clearing and cropping on the organic reserves and biomass of tropical forest soils. Soil Biol. Biochem. 8, 519–525.
Beinroth F H 1971 The general pattern of the soils of Puerto Rico. In Transactions of the Fifth Caribbean Geological Conference. Geological Bulletin No. 5, pp 225–229. Queens College Press, New York.
Brams E A 1971 Continuous cultivation of West African soils: Organic matter diminuation and effects of applied lime and phosphorus. Plant and Soil 35, 401–414.
Bremner J M 1965 Inorganic forms of nitrogen. In Methods of Soil Analysis. Ed. C ABlack. pp 1179–1273. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
Brown S and Lugo A E 1982 The storage and production of organic matter in tropical forests and their role in the global carbon cycle. Biotropica 14, 161–176.
Brown S and Lugo A E 1990 Tropical secondary forests. J. Trop. Ecol. 56, 1–32.
Brown S, Lugo A E, Silander S and Liegel L 1983 Research history, and opportunities in the Luquillo Experimental Forest. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, General Technical Report SO-44, Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, LA, 128 p.
Bouyocous G J 1962 Hydrometer method improved for making particle size analysis of soils. Agron. J. 54, 464–465.
Ewel J J 1971 Biomass changes in early tropical succession. Turrialba 21, 110–112.
Ewel J J and Whitmore J L 1973 The ecological life zones of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research Paper ITF-18, Institute of Tropical Forestry, Rio Piedras, PR, 72p. + map.
Gallaher R N Weldon C O and Boswell F C 1976 A semiautomated procedure for total nitrogen in plant and soil samples. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 40, 887–889.
Holdridge L R 1967 Life Zone Ecology. Tropical Science Center, San Jose, Costa Rica, 206 p.
Lal R and Kang B T 1982 Management of organic matter in soils of the tropics and subtropics. In Non-symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation and Organic Matter in the Tropics, Symposium Papers 1, pp 115–141. Twelfth International Congress of Soil Science, New Delhi, India.
Lugo A E, Gonzalez-Liboy J A, Cintron B and Dugger K 1978 Structure, productivity and transpiration of a subtropical dry forest in Puerto Rico. Biotropica 10, 278–291.
Lugo A E, Sanchez M J and Brown S 1986 Land use and organic carbon content of some subtropical soils. Plant and Soil 96, 185–196.
Mann L K 1986 Changes in soil carbon storage after cultivation. Soil Sci. 142, 279–288.
Nye P H and Greenland D J 1964 Changes in the soil after clearing tropical forests. Plant and Soil 21, 101–112.
Parton W J, Schimel D S, Cole C V and Ojima D S 1987 Analysis of factors controlling soil organic matter levels in Great Plains grasslands. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 51, 1173–1179.
Post W M, Emanuel W R, Zinke P J and Stangenberger A G 1982 Soil carbon pools and world life zones. Nature 298, 156–159.
Post W M, Pastor J, Zinke P J and Stangenberger A G 1985 Global patterns of soil nitrogen storage. Nature 317, 613–616.
Raich J W 1983 Effects of forest conversion on the carbon budget of a tropical soil. Biotropica 15, 177–184.
Sanchez P A (Ed.) 1973 A review of soils research in Tropical Latin America. Technical Bulletin No. 219, North Carolina Agriculture Experiment Station, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
Sanchez P A 1976 Properties and management of soils in the tropics. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 618 p.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service 1965 Soil survey of the Lajas Valley area, Puerto Rico. Series 1961, No. 23. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D C, 170 p.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service 1970 Soil survey, Virgin Islands of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D C, 77 p.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service 1972 Soil series of the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands: Their taxonomic classification. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D C.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service 1977 Soil survey of Humacao area of eastern Puerto Rico. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D C, 103 p.
U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 1966–1980 Climatological data, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands: Annual summary. Environmental Data and Information Service, National Climatic Center, Asheville, NC.
Vitousek P M 1984 Litterfall, nutrient cycling and nutrient limitation in tropical forests. Ecology 65, 285–298.
Weaver P L, Birdsey R A and Lugo A E 1987 Soil organic matter in secondary forests of Puerto Rico. Biotropica 19, 17–23.
Werner P 1984 Changes in soil properties during tropical wet forest succession in Costa Rica. Biotropica 16, 43–50.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brown, S., Lugo, A.E. Effects of forest clearing and succession on the carbon and nitrogen content of soils in Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands. Plant Soil 124, 53–64 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010931
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010931