SOIL CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS IN A NATURAL FOREST AND A <em>CUPRESSUS</em> <em>LUSITANICA</em> PLANTATION AT WEST KILIMANJARO, NORTHERN TANZANIA

Abstract

A comparison of soil chemical properties under a Cupressus lusitanica plantation and an adjacent natural forest was carried out at West Kilimanjaro, northern Tanzania. Results showed that the natural forest had higher amounts of organic matter, total nitrogen and exchangeable sodium in some soil horizons than the plantation forest. Levels of available phosphorus and exchangeable calcium and potassium did not differ significantly between the two forest types but the organic layer under the cypress plantation was significantly more acidic than that under the natural forest. The possibility of these changes affecting future productivity of successive rotations of plantation forests is discussed using results of this study and others from literature. It is concluded that further investigation of soil properties (biological, physical and chemical) under plantation forestry is necessary using permanent sample plots so that long term effects on site productivity could be correlated with the yield of successive rotations.