Nutrient cycling under different vegetable coverage in a mountain area in southern Ecuador

The understanding of the nutrient cycling processes at the soil-plant level are essential for the sustainable management of high Andean ecosystems. This project will study the impacts of land use change in the dynamics of organic matter and nutrient cycling in an area of water recharge source in the Cuenca canton, south of Ecuador, and for this the following objectives have been set: i) Estimate carbon and nutrient stocks in the soil under four types of coverage - Pajonal (herbaceous páramo), secondary forest (very wet forest (very wet forest (very wet forest - very humid forest (very wet forest (very wetter High Montano), Pine and Potreros Plantation -, II) Understand the dynamics of biomass production and its decomposition in the four types of coverage mentioned above, and iii) Integrate the concepts of nutrient cycling and production of plant biomass to a real scenario of typical (pastures) practiced by farmers in the study area. The methodology is based on soil sampling, biweekly monitoring for a period of one year of the biomass of recently falling plant organs and its decomposition by means of "litterbags" traps. Soil samples and accumulated biomass and decomposition will be chemically analyzed for the determination of nutrients and thus be able to understand their dynamics in the soil-plant system. This knowledge is necessary to understand the possible impacts of land use change, whether they happen in areas for protection or production.

2nd UNIVERSITY COMPETITION FOR RESEARCH-LINKAGE PROJECTS