Land-use impacts on selected soil properties of the Yungas/Chaco transition forest of Jujuy province, northwestern Argentina: a preliminary study

Ripley, S. W., Krzic, M., Bradfield, G. E. and Bomke, A. A. 2010. Land-use impacts on selected soil properties of the Yungas/Chaco transition forest of Jujuy province, northwestern Argentina: A preliminary study. Can. J. Soil Sci. 90: 679-683. Grazing by domestic livestock, Firewood cutting, and timber harvesting are the principal uses of the subtropical transition forest located between the humid Yungas and dry Chaco forests at the base of the Andes mountains in Jujuy province, northwestern Argentina. The objective of this study was to conduct a preliminary comparison of selected soil properties between two common land-use systems - deciduous forest rangeland (DFR) and open savanna anthropogenic rangeland (AR) - in the Yungas/Chaco transition forest. Soil organic C and N were measured at a depth of 0-10 cm, while soil penetration resistance was measured at 0-5 and 5-10 cm depths. Soil degradation in the AR was indicated by lower average values for litter cover (56%), soil organic C (28.1 g kg(-1)), and total N(2.93 g kg(-1)), and greater soil penetration resistance compared with the DFR (litter cover 94%; soil organic C 45.0 g kg(-1), total N 4.45 g kg(-1)), This created potential for further soil losses from water erosion during monsoon rains and emphasized the need to establish, sustainable grazing management practices.