Abstract
The main purpose of the present study, conducted in the Piedemonte Llanero of Colombia, was to identify the role of covariates that influence soil properties under different land uses by analyzing the dynamics of selected soil properties in natural and agricultural areas. Soil samples were collected from 90 different sites throughout the region, 45 from areas with agricultural activities and 45 natural areas or areas with low anthropic intervention. The studied soils were strongly acidic (pH < 5.5), had low organic matter contents (1.73% and 2.34% on average in agricultural soils and natural areas, respectively) and, in general, represented poor conditions for agricultural production. The use of multivariate analysis showed that altitude was an important influence on soil properties. Moreover, it was found that land use influenced soil properties, which may limit productive capacity. The results presented here help to clarify the relationships between soils, climate, and landforms in an equatorial climate.
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Acknowledgements
The authors express gratitude to the Fondo Social para la Educación Superior de la Gobernación del Meta (FSES), Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales de la Orinoquía Colombiana (ICAOC) of the Universidad de los Llanos and Gobernación del Meta.
Funding
This research was funded by Fondo Social para la Educación Superior del Gobierno del Meta (FSES) by the doctoral scholarship of Juan Manuel Trujillo González.
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Trujillo-González, J.M., Torres-Mora, M.A., Ballesta, R.J. et al. Spatial variability of the physicochemical properties of acidic soils along an altitudinal gradient in Colombia. Environ Earth Sci 81, 108 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10235-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10235-w