Biological Properties and Organic Matter Dynamics of Soil in Pasture and Natural Regeneration Areas in the Atlantic Forest Biome

Abstract

ABSTRACT The removal of original vegetation for crops and pasture production and then followed by natural regeneration is a standard practice in the Atlantic Forest, which has produced patches with different degrees of degradation and regeneration across the landscape. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of replacement of native forest by pasture and natural regeneration of vegetation on soil and on soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics in the dry and rainy season in an Atlantic Forest fragment in Passa Vinte, Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil. Soil samples were collected in the rainy and dry season, at a depth of 0.00-0.05 m. The variables determined were total organic carbon (TOC) and particle-size fractions of SOM [particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MOC)]; microbial activity by basal respiration (BR) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC); species richness (SR) and spore abundance (SA) of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF); and total and easily extractable glomalin-related soil protein (T-GRSP and EE-GRSP, respectively). The conversion of native forest into pasture reduced TOC, POC, MOC, AMF-SA, T-GRSP, and EE-GRSP. However, it did not reduce MBC and BR. The fallow period in the area under natural regeneration was not long enough to restore soil TOC, POC, MOC, BR, MBC, T-GRSP, and EE-GRSP to levels approaching those observed in the forest area. Nevertheless, natural regeneration of vegetation stimulated the production of seedlings (spores) of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which are important for the establishment of plant species and advance of ecological succession. Seasonality affected some of the biological soil properties and SOM dynamics.