Title
Cacao agroforestry management systems effects on soil fungi diversity in the Peruvian Amazon
Date Issued
01 August 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center
Publisher(s)
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
Cacao agroforestry system provides productive land use and preserves the best conditions for physical, chemical and biological properties of tropical soils in cocoa tropical region of the world. We evaluated the impact of changing a 30-year-old native secondary forest to two cacao agroforestry systems on soil fungal diversity. The cacao agroforestry systems adapted were: an improved natural agroforestry system (INAS) where trees without economic value were selectively removed to provide 50% shade; and an improved traditional agroforestry system (ITAS) where all native trees were cut and burnt in the location. In both systems, new economically valuable trees were planted. In these management systems, plots of 10 cacao genotypes and one plot with a spontaneous cacao hybrid were selected for soil sampling. In each plot, soil samples were randomly collected at 0–20 cm depth, immediately after the trees were planted (2004) and at the end of 2010; each sample was divided in two, one part for soil characterization by conventional chemical analytical methods and the other for soil fungal analysis using the plate dilution method. Soil fungi were identified by appropriate keys and grouped according to their functionality as potential biocontrol, plant pathogenic, facultative or saprophytic fungi; the structure of fungal communities was analyzed by population, richness and Shannon and Simpson indices. Fungal diversity varied significantly during the years of study, at all soil depths and under the agroforestry systems assessed. The fungal communities showed significant changes due to soil management influenced by INAS and ITAS, and mainly after burning of native vegetation in ITAS. Overall higher abundance of soil fungal communities were observed in ITAS than in INAS. In both systems, differential changes in soil physical and chemical properties under cacao also could have been a contributing factor in the fungal diversity and functional groups observed.
Volume
115
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Forestal
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85083304658
Source
Ecological Indicators
ISSN of the container
1470160X
Sponsor(s)
We thank Luis Zuñiga Cernades, Kadir Markez Davila, and Betsabe Leon Tacca for assistance with soil information in the field research, and we thank Lucinda Vela Vargas for the management for field research of ICT. Our thanks go to all of our colleagues who supported the undertaking of this work. Financial and technical support from the United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Agreement number NACA 58-8042-7-033-F and the US Embassy (INL) in Lima, Peru is greatly appreciated. Technical and logistical facilities for the field research and laboratory analytical facilities, provided by Instituto de Cultivos Tropicales [Tropical Crops Institute] – ICT/CITE cacao y Otros Cultivos Tropicales [Productive Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre (CITE) of Cacao and Other Tropical Crops] and by the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Alto Amazonas – UNAAA, Yurimaguas, are greatly appreciated. We thank Drs Jeff Buyer and Bruno Condori for review of this paper.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus