Impact of Litter Quality on Mineralization Processes in Managed and Abandoned Pasture Soils in Southern Ecuador

摘要

Southern Ecuador currently undergoes deforestation at one of the highest rates in South America. Over the past several decades, vast areas of forest have been converted into cattle pastures by slash and burn practice. Frequently these pasture sites are invaded by bracken fern, when bracken becomes dominant pasture productivity decreases and the sites are abandoned. The land use change from productive pastures towards abandoned pasture sites is accompanied by altered litter inputs to soil which may influence microbial processes of natural organic matter (NOM) turnover [1].