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Cover crops alter phosphorus soil fractions and organic matter accumulation in a Peruvian cacao agroforestry system

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Abstract

In many tropical soils, excessive weathering of primary minerals confounded by intense agricultural production has resulted in the depletion of organic matter and plant available forms of phosphorus (P). Long-term growth of cover crops in tropical agroforestry systems have been shown to influence nutrient cycling, and soil organic matter pools. The objective of this experiment was to assess the affect of 2 years of cover-crop cultivation on organic matter accumulation and P bioavailability using Mehlich I and sequential fractionation methods. The experiment included six treatments in the understory of a cacao-plantain agroforestry system adjacent to lower montane tropical forests of the San Martin district of Eastern Peru. Cacao and plantain formed the primary canopy on otherwise abandoned agricultural land. The treatments consisted of four perennial leguminous cover crops (Arachis pintoi, Calopogonium mucunoides, Canavalia ensiformis, and Centrosema macrocarpum), a non-legume cover crop (Callisia repens), and a control treatment (no cover crop). After only 2 years of cultivation, results suggest that all cover crop species accessed residual P pools in 0–5 cm soil depths as indicated by a decrease in the 0.5 M HCl extractable P pools when compared to control. Additional use of residual P pools by A. pintoi and C. macrocarpum were indicated by significant reduction in the 6.0 M HCl extractable P pool. Relative to control, there was no treatment effect on soil organic matter content; however significant differences occurred between treatments. The C. ensiformis, C. mucunoides and C. repens treatments in 5–15 cm soil depths contained significantly more organic matter than the A. pintoi treatment. In 15–30 cm soil depths the C. ensiformis treatment contains significantly more organic matter than the A. pintoi treatment. Continued research should focus on monitoring the long-term effects of cover crop cultivation on the bioavailability of soil P pools in surface soil horizons, development of organic matter pools and the productivity of the agroforestry species.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the many sources of assistance that made this work possible. In terms of laboratory and field assistance, the authors would like to acknowledge the many people at the Forest Soils Laboratory, Tropical Research & Education Centers Soil and Water Sciences Laboratory, and at the Instituto de Cultivos for the generosity of their time. Specifically, at the Forest Soils Laboratory the authors thank Aja Stoppe. At the Tropical Research & Education Centers Soil and Water Sciences Laboratory, the authors thank Guingin Yu, Yun Qian, and Laura Rosado. At the Instituto de Cultivos Tropicales, the authors thank the all of their employees. In terms of funding, the authors would like to thank the Latin American Studies Research Grant fund, and the Tinker Grant fund at the University of Florida.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil and Water Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Hollie Hall, Yuncong Li, Nicholas Comerford & Hugh Popenoe

  2. Instituto de Cultivos Tropicales (ICT), Jr. Santa Maria 241, La Banda de Shilcayo, Tarapoto, San Martin, Peru

    Enrique Arévalo Gardini & Luis Zuniga Cernades

  3. The Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, USA

    Virupax Baligar

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  1. Hollie Hall
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  2. Yuncong Li
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  3. Nicholas Comerford
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  4. Enrique Arévalo Gardini
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  6. Virupax Baligar
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  7. Hugh Popenoe
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Correspondence to Hollie Hall.

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Hall, H., Li, Y., Comerford, N. et al. Cover crops alter phosphorus soil fractions and organic matter accumulation in a Peruvian cacao agroforestry system. Agroforest Syst 80, 447–455 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-010-9333-8

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