Microbial Properties of Soil in Different Coverages in the Colombian Amazon

ABSTRACT Changes in coverage affect the activity of soil’s microbial communities, affecting the carbon and nitrogen cycle. The variability of biochemical properties in different coverages (native forest, forest plantation, silvopastoral system and pasture) located in the northwest of the Colombian Amazon was evaluated. Edaphic properties were determined as: organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) using the fumigation method. A significant effect was found to land use × depth interaction for the variables moisture, pH, CO and MBC/OC ratio (p < 0.05), while MBC and dCO2 showed differences only for land use and NT, MBN and MBN/TN ratio at depth (p < 0.05). In general, when modifying the soil cover, changes were made in the chemical properties that affected the microbial activity.