Are partial nutrient balances suitable to evaluate nutrient sustainability of land use systems?: results from a case study in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Nutrient input–output balances are often used as indicators for the sustainability of land use systems. Ina case study on plot scale in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, we measured nutrient input–output balances ofnatural rainforest and two unfertilized land use systems (maize, and coffee/cacao agroforestry). These arethe two major land use systems on converted rainforest sites in this part of Sulawesi. We wanted to test if(a) plant nutrient balances are negative, (b) which pathway is most important for losses of plantnutrients, and (c) if partial plant nutrient balances are suitable to evaluate sustainability of the land usesystems. We measured nutrient inputs by precipitation and nutrient outputs by harvest export andleaching. We selected two locations, the first was situated on a fertile Cambisol developed on alluvialsediment soil, and the second on a less fertile Cambisol developed on weathered phyllite substrate.Nutrient losses through leaching were higher on sites with higher soil fertility. Nutrient balances innatural forest on fertile soils were negative for N, Ca, K and Mg. Inputs of P by precipitation andoutputs by leaching were below detection limit. On less fertile soils, leaching of N and K in natural forestwas lower than inputs by precipitation. As net nutrient losses were highest in agroforestry, followed bymaize and natural forest stands, forest conversion into agricultural land will result in increased nutrientlosses. Main output pathway of N, P and K was harvest, whereas main output pathway for Ca and Mgwas through leaching. The annual losses of nutrients we measured were higher than in comparablestudies on nutrient poor soils; however losses were only small fractions of available nutrient stocks. Ourresults showed negative partial nutrient balances in both agricultural systems. Nutrient balances in thisstudy were more influenced by native soil fertility than by land use. Because we found indirect evidencethat some nutrient pathways, which were not measured, may have significantly changed the overallbalance (biological N fixation, weathering), we conclude that partial nutrient balances are no goodindicators for sustainability of land use systems.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	61727 Dechert, G., 128090 Veldkamp, E., 51534 Brumme, R. autores/as
Format:	biblioteca
Language:	eng
Published:	Amsterdam (Países Bajos): Springer, 2005
Subjects:	SOSTENIBILIDAD, NUTRICION DE LAS PLANTAS, PLANTAS PERENNES, MAÍZ, FERTILIDAD DEL SUELO, AGROFORESTERIA, TEXTURA DEL SUELO, LISIMETROS, BALANCE HIDRICO, BIOMASA, TRANSPIRACION, INDONESIA,
Online Access:	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-005-1546-2
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