Effect of harvest residue management on soil properties of Eucalyptus hybrid and Acacia mangium plantations planted on steep slopes in northern Vietnam. Issue 2 (2nd April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bich, Nguyen Van; Eyles, Alieta; Mendham, Daniel; Dong, Tran Lam; Evans, Katherine J.; Hai, Vo Dai; Mohammed, Caroline
• Is Part Of: Southern forests. Volume 82:Issue 2(2020)
• Page Start: 159
• Page End: 169
• Publication Date: 2020-04-02
• Subjects: burning post-harvest residues -- productivity -- site fertility -- slope position -- sustainability -- tropical plantation; Forests and forestry -- Southern Hemisphere -- Periodicals; Forests and forestry -- Periodicals; 634.9091814
• DOI: 10.2989/20702620.2019.1686692
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2070-2620

Abstract

Abstract : Burning harvest residues during site preparation can compromise the soil-nutrient stock in short-rotation plantations, but this practice remains common in northern Vietnam. This study compared the effect of two contrasting harvest-residue treatments (burning vs retention) on soil total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), extractable P (ext-P), exchangeable K (exch-K) and bulk density (BD) of two adjacent randomised complete-block trials, one of Eucalyptus hybrid ( Eucalyptus urophylla × E. pellita ) and the other of Acacia mangium planted on steep slopes. Harvest-residue management had no effect on soil properties of either E. hybrid or A. mangium two years after planting. Soil pH in E. hybrid increased and exch-K in A. mangium decreased during the first year; ext-P decreased over time in both species though this was only significant in the residue-retention treatment in A. mangium . Slope significantly influenced pH and TC of E. hybrid and TC and TN of A. mangium . It appeared that slope position and correlative factors such as surface runoff and erosion had led to the observed distribution of some soil properties along the steep slope.