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doi:10.1016/S0065-2113(05)89004-2 
Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Assessing Soil Fertility Decline in the Tropics Using Soil Chemical Data
Available online 24 May 2006.
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Soil fertility decline is perceived to be widespread in the upland soils of the tropics, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Most studies have used nutrient balances to assess the degree and extent of nutrient depletion; these have created awareness but suffer methodological problems as several of the nutrient flows and stocks are not measured. This chapter focuses on the assessment of soil fertility decline using soil chemical data (pH, organic C, total N, available P, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and exchangeable cations) that are routinely collected in soil surveys or for the assessment of fertilizer recommendations. Soil fertility decline can be assessed using a set of properties from different periods at the same site or from different land-use systems with the same soils. The former is easier to interpret; the latter can be rapidly collected but differences may be due to inherent differences and not have resulted from soil management. This study provides an analytical framework for the assessment of soil fertility decline and shows pitfalls and how they should be handled. Boundary conditions are presented that could be used in future studies on soil fertility management and crop productivity in the tropics.
Article Outline
- I. Introduction
- II. Changes in Soil Chemical Properties
- III. Data Types
- A. Expert Knowledge
- B. The Nutrient Balance
- C. Measured Change in Soil Chemical Properties: Type I Data
- D. Measured Change in Soil Chemical Properties: Type II Data
- E. Minimum Data Sets
- IV. Soil Sampling, Soil Analysis, and Errors
- A. Errors in Soil Sampling
- B. Errors in Soil Handling and Storage
- C. Errors in Soil Analysis
- D. Soil Variation
- V. Soil Chemical Changes and Nutrient Removal
- VI. Presentations of Results
- A. Rates of Change
- B. Paired Sequential Samples
- C. Bulk Density
- D. Bulk Density Effects on Nutrient Stocks
- VII. Interpretation of Results
- VIII. Summary and Conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- References
