Revista Cubana de Ciencias Forestales (May 2019)
Chemical properties of the soils in the semideciduous mesophilic forest of the Agroforestry Experimental Station of Guisa, Cuba
Abstract
The study was carried out in a fragment of the mesophilic semideciduous Forest of the Guisa Agroforestry Experimental Station, with the objective of chemically characterizing the forest floor along a profile. In its three transects were drawn in the sense of the toposequence (base, slope and summit). In each transect 9 samples were taken (from 0-20 cm) for their chemical analysis. Multiple means comparison tests were applied, through the Tukey HDS test (p≤0.05%). Likewise, a linear regression analysis was developed and a correspondence analysis was carried out, in order to evaluate the interrelations among the chemical variables of the soil. The results indicated soils with high base saturation, low acidity and high concentration of Ca, especially at the slope and top levels. Brown soils with carbonates were identified in the base, and red Fersialitic and Redzina in the slope and the top. The Ca and P elements showed the greatest differences in the three topographic levels.
