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Changes in N and C concentrations, soil acidity and P availability in tropical mixed acacia and eucalypt plantations on a nutrient-poor sandy soil

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Abstract

Background and aims

The introduction of Acacia mangium in Eucalyptus urophylla x grandis stands improves wood production on poor sandy soils of coastal plains of the Congo. We assessed the impact of A. mangium plantations in pure stands and in mixture with eucalypt trees on the physico-chemical properties of the soil after one rotation.

Methods

Bulk densities, N, C, available P and pH were determined on soil sampled in the pure acacia (100A), pure eucalypt (100E) and mixed-species (50A:50E) stands. N and P were determined in aboveground litters and in leaves, bark and wood of trees.

Results

N and C concentrations were higher in 50A:50E than in 100A and 100E in the top soil layer. The pH was lower in 100A and higher in 100E than in 50A:50E. The available P was lower in 50A:50E than in 100A and 100E. Leaf N was lower in 50A:50E than in 100A for acacia, and higher than in 100E for eucalypt. Leaf P was similar for acacia but higher for eucalypt in 50A:50E than in 100E. In contrast to P, the amount of N in aboveground litterfall increased with the proportion of acacia in the stand.

Conclusions

The introduction of acacia trees in eucalypt plantations increased C and N contents of the soil but decreased the available P content in the mixed-species stand. This may be related to a higher uptake of P needed to maintain the N:P stoichiometry in eucalypt leaves.

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Abbreviations

SOM:

Soil organic matter

C:

Carbon

P:

Phosphorus

N:

Nitrogen

NFS:

Nitrogen fixing species

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Drs J. Ranger and L. Saint-André (INRA, Nancy, France) for allowing P extraction in their Laboratory (CIRAD Grant AI11), Agnès Martin (CIRAD, Montpellier, France) for the soil P analyses, A. Diamesso (CRDPI, Congo) for his help in pH measurements, S. Meziane and D. Gérant for the leaf and litter P analyses, and Prof. Tim Crews (Prescott College, US) for his advices in the earlier stage of the manuscript. C and N analyses were done by the Plateforme d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle of UMR EEF in Nancy. Financial supports were provided by the Intens&fix Project (ANR-2010-STRA-004-03), the EU – funded ClimaAfrica project (7th Framework Program) and the “Observatoires de Recherche en Environnement sur le Fonctionnement des Écosystèmes Forestiers” (SOERE F-ORE-T, GIP ECOFOR). The UMR EEF is supported by the French National Research Agency through the Laboratory of Excellence ARBRE (ANR-12- LABXARBRE-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Recherche sur la Durabilité et la Productivité des Plantations Industrielles, BP 1291, Pointe-Noire, République du Congo

    Lydie-Stella Koutika, Daniel Epron & Louis Mareschal

  2. Ecologie et Ecophysiologie Forestières, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Lorraine, UMR 1137, 54500, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France

    Daniel Epron

  3. Centre de Nancy, INRA, UMR 1137, 54280, Champenoux, France

    Daniel Epron

  4. CIRAD, UMR Eco&Sols, Ecologie Fonctionnelle & Biogéochimie des Sols & Agro-écosystèmes, 34060, Montpellier, France

    Daniel Epron, Jean-Pierre Bouillet & Louis Mareschal

  5. USP, Universidade de São Paulo, ESALQ, Ciências Florestais, 13418-900, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

    Jean-Pierre Bouillet

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  1. Lydie-Stella Koutika
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  2. Daniel Epron
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  3. Jean-Pierre Bouillet
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  4. Louis Mareschal
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Correspondence to Lydie-Stella Koutika.

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Koutika, LS., Epron, D., Bouillet, JP. et al. Changes in N and C concentrations, soil acidity and P availability in tropical mixed acacia and eucalypt plantations on a nutrient-poor sandy soil. Plant Soil 379, 205–216 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2047-3

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