Forest Ecology and Management, 38 ( 199 1) 227-238

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.. Amsterdam

227

Influence of protection forest on soil and water

conservation (Oxapampa, Peru)
Andre P. Plamondona, Rene A. Ruizb, Carmen F. Moralesc and Marino C.
Gonzalezd
Laboratoire dhydrologieforest&e, FacultP de Foresterie et de GPodksie,UniversitPLaval, Quebec,
Canada
bUniversidad National Agraria, Lima, Peru
Departamento de Suelo y Fertilizantes, UniversidadNational Agraria, Lima, Peru
Departamento de Manejo forestal, UniversidadNational Agraria, Lima, Peru

ABSTRACT
Plamondon, A., Ruiz, R.A., Morales, C.F. and Gonzalez, M.C., 199 I. Influence of protection forest
on soil and water conservation (Oxapampa, Peru). For. Ecol. Manage., 38: 227-238.
The effects of different land uses on soil fertility and water quality were evaluated on three basins
within the Oxapampa municipal watershed. Replacing the natural forest by pastures and crops decreased the organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content of the soil. In addition, the
increase in exchangeable aluminium caused a substantial decrease in fertility three or more years after
land-clearing. The maximum suspended sediment concentrations reached 76, 226, and 771 mg 1-i
respectively, for the three basins covered by forest, crop-pasture-forest, and pasture. From streamflow
measurements the soil losses were evaluated in the same order at 12 1,345, and 542 kg ha- year-.
Water temperatures ranged from 13, 14, and 16C to a maximum of 14, 19, and 20C respectively.
Minimum dissolved-oxygen concentrations of 7.7,6.6, and $9 ppm and pH of 7.0,6.5, and 6.0 were
measured. The results stress the importance of maintaining a forest cover on steep land.

INTRODUCTION

The demarcation of protection forest is a practice used in the mountainous

areas of the Peruvian tropical forest to maintain ecological equilibrium. However, the effects of forest conservation on soil fertility and water quality must
be better quantified to support the establishment and proper management of
protection forests. The objective of this study was to evaluate some of the
ecological effects of protection forest as compared to other land uses.
LITERATURE

REVIEW

The humid tropical forest is characterized by relatively high precipitation

and temperatures with a small yearly variation in photoperiod. The biogeo0378-l 127/91/$03.50

0 199 1 -

Elsevier Science Publishers

B.V.

228

A. PLAMONDON ET AL.

chemical cycles of the forest ecosystem maintain almost all the nutrients in
the plants, leaving almost nothing in the soil (Brinkmann, 1983). For this
reason, the vegetation in tropical forests is critical for maintaining soil fertility (Fittkau and Klinge, 1973; Odum, 1983 ).
When the tropical forest is cleared and burned for other land uses, nutrient
and hydrologic cycles are altered. Nutrients not retained by plants or organic
matter are mostly lost by volatilization and leaching. Disappearance of the
organic matter and soil compaction decrease infiltrability, producing surface
runofferosion and possible changes in peak flows (Gentry and Lopez-Parodi,
1980; Nordin and Meade, 1982). The nutrient losses reduce ecosystem productivity (Mozo, 1967; Lal, 1977, 1981; Okigbo and Lal, 1979; Sanchez, 1981;
Hsia et al., 1983 ).
Soil losses from erosion following slash/burning are often very high but
depend on soil properties, topography, rainfall intensities and subsequent land
use (Lal, 1983, 1984). Losses of 148 t ha -~ year -~ were measured for bare
soils in Chanchamayo, Peru (Alegre, 1979), 40-50 t h a - 1 year- i for wellmanaged tea plantation in India (Chinnemani, 1977 cited in Lal, 1984) and
20-90 t ha -1 year -1 for tilled land in the Ivory Coast (Roose, 1979 cited in
Lal, 1984). The erosion rate from soils covered by natural vegetation, pasture, coffee and cotton in S~o Paulo, Brazil, were respectively 0.004, 0.4, 0.9
and 26.6 t h a - ~ year- i. The acceptable rates of soil erosion for shallow soils
of low inherent fertility ranges from 0.5 to 2.0 t ha-~ year-1. In the tropical
regions, the Central African Federation accepts 10-12 t h a - 1 year- 1 for good
soils whereas the acceptable rate in temperate climats varies between 2.5 and
15 t ha -~ year -~ (Anonymous, 1979).
In Hong Kong, Lam (1978, cited in Lal, 1984) obtained suspended sediment losses of 97, 67 and 2 t h a - 1 year- 1 in clearcut, partly clearcut and a
natural forest basins of around 0.25 km 2. In the tropical forests of Queensland, Australia, the concentrations of suspended sediments increased from
180 to 320 and 520 mg l- 1 during the first and second year after log driving
in the rivers (Bonell et al., 1983 ). Clearcutting increased the normal concentration of suspended sediments by about 10 times, reaching between 20004000 mg l- ~ during peak flows. This usually increased the nutrient losses in
the streams as well as water temperatures which directly affect the dissolvedoxygen content essential for aquatic fauna.
MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study was conducted in three basins of the Oxapampa municipal watershed located in the Pasco Department, Peru (Fig. 1 ). The three basins were
respectively covered (Table 1 ) by a dense natural forest (C3), a mixture of
crop/pasture/forest (C2), and pasture dominated by Brachiaria (C1). The
prevailing slope gradients are respectively 80, 40 and 40%. The land capabil-

229

INFLUENCE OF PROTECTION FOREST ON SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

x\

I
I
!
RiO

---,..

X_,.//
N

//

~.I

Fig. 1. Location of the three basins and the San Alberto municipal watershed.

TABLE 1
Some physical characteristics of the basins
Characteristics

Pasture C 1

Various cover C2

Forest C3

Altitude minimum
(m)
maximum
(m)
Prevailing slope
(%)
Dense forest
}
Regeneration cleared
Regeneration one year old
Regeneration cleared and burned
(ha)
Pasture
Agricultural crops
Forest after high-grading

1905
2060
40

1910
2150
40

2100
2450
80

Total area
Soil capability
Class IV
Class V
Class VI
Class VII
Class VIII

(ha)
}

(%)

4.3

22

21

45.6

14.1

20.3

14.7

123.0

160

1.4

44.4

69.4
29.2
-

27.0
28.6

38
62

10.4

230

A. PLAMONDON ET AL.

ity (Luzio, 1982) is low, and decreases when moving from the valley to the
divide. The classes of soil capability (Anonymous, 1982 ) represented on basin
C1 and C2, range from class IV to class VIII (Table 1 ). Only class IV is suited
for cultivation. The texture of the top 90 cm of soil can be classified as a loam
overlying a sandy loam (Table 2 ).
Soil fertility was evaluated in relation to the following site conditions: dense
forest; fresh clearcut; one-year-old regeneration; regeneration cleared and
burned; and pastures and crops more than three years after removal of the
original forest. A soil sample was taken from each of the three to six horizons
composing the 15 soil series of the Inceptisol order encountered on the sites
(Luzio, 1982 ). The soil was prepared as proposed by Cline ( 1945 ) and standard laboratory methods were used to measure the organic matter (Walkley
and Black), total nitrogen (micro Kjeldahl), phosphorus (Olsen modified
NaHCO, 0.5M, pH 8.5), potassium (ammonium acetate, IN, pH 7), base
saturation, exchangeable aluminium (potassium chloride), pH (indicator dye
solution) and A1 saturation.
Water level and some water quality parameters were evaluated at the outlet
of the three basins during 51 days between 21 January and 31 March 1985.
The discharge curve was established from streamflow measurements taken
three times a week with a current meter. Reinhart (1964) and Thomassin
(1984) have demonstrated that discontinuous measurements of streamflow
and suspended sediments c a n be used to compare different treatments. In
their studies, sampling every four days gave the same results as daily sampiing. The suspended sediments were obtained from filtering (Whatman No.
40, 7pm ) samples collected manually with a 1-1 bottle in a turbulent section
of the stream. The loaded filter was dried at 60 C for 24 h. The pH was evaluated with indicator paper from the same sample before filtration. Water
temperature and dissolved oxygen were evaluated at 07:00 and 12:00 h by
taking the water temperature at the site and analyzing a sample in the laboratory. The Winkler method modified by pretreating with sulfamic acid
(Nava, 1985) was used.
TABLE2
Soil texture in relation to depth for each basin
Depth (cm)

Pasture CI

Various cover C2

Forest C3

0-50
50-90
90-120
120 +

Sandy
Sandy
Sandy
Sandy

Loam
Loam
Clay loam
Sandy loam

Loam
Loam
Sandy loam
Sandy loam

loam
loam
clay
loam

231

INFLUENCE OF PROTECTIONFORESTON SOIL AND WATERCONSERVATION

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Soil fertility
The pH measured in the upper soil horizon of each land-use type (Table 3 )
ranged from 3.2 to 4.6, which demonstrates the high acidity of those soils
derived from acid sandstone rock (Bullon, 1980). The Organic-matter content reached 11% in both the dense forest and the regeneration areas following the abandonment of farm lands; It was 4-5 times lower in pasture and
crop lands, in which the nitrogen concentration remained below 0.14%, compared with 0.5% for the forest. After forest clearing, the organic-matter content decreased until a new equilibrium was reached in relation to land use
(Sanchez, 1979).
The phosphorus concentrations were above 16 ppm in the forested soil,
between 5 and 12 ppm in regeneration areas, and below 4 ppm in pasture and
crop land. Potassium decreased in a similar manner, with amounts around
900, 500, 250 and 200 kg h a - 1 for the forest, regeneration, pasture and crops
respectively. The base saturation is low in all the horizons because leached
cations were not retained within the vegetation. Exchangeable A1 was low except in the regeneration areas (Table 3 ) where Al saturation was also high.
The 70% A1 saturation present in the one-year-old regeneration was toxic for
most of the crop, explaining why the land was abandoned. Furthermore, the
high A1 concentration can increase the deficiency of P, which was already low
at 5.3 ppm. The cleared regeneration areas, as well as those cleared and burned,
have a P concentration acceptable for crops but the high saturation levels of
A1 might limit its absorption by the plants.
Considering all the parameters, the lowest fertility was encountered in pasTABLE 3
Soil characteristics of the superficial horizon in relation to the six most important soil series and land uses
Land use

Forest
Regeneration
cleared
l year old
cleared and burned
Pasture
Crops

Slope
(%)

Soil
O.M.
series (%)

70-90 C3-1
80 Ca-2
80 CI-6
25
70
40
30
20

C2-2
C2-1
Ci-5
C~-7
C2-3

N
(%)

P
(ppm)

K20
(kg/ha)

10.2
ll.6
11.6

0.459
0.522
0.522

16.4
50.8
11.3

994
844
678

11.9
10.9
3.1
2.8
1.9

0.535
0.490
0.139
0.126
0.085

5.3
12.2
1.9
1.9
4.4

526
444
210
327
198

Exch. A1
(mec/100g)

Base pH
Sat.

Sat.
A1

0.64
1.36
8.73

29
22
41

4.0
3.3
3.2

4
11
58

10.22
6.84
1.43
1.33
0.47

33
26
14
13
28

3.2
3.3
4.0
4.2
4.6

70
55
39
36
8

(%)

(%)

232

A. PLAMONDONET AL.

ture and regeneration areas where the original forest has been removed for
more than three years. The losses of organic matter, N, P and K must be replaced by fertilization and possibly organic matter to obtain good crop production, or else the land is abandoned.

Water quality
The suspended-sediment concentrations remained above 5, 20 and 15 mg
1-1 for the forest, crop-pasture-forest, and pasture land-use, respectively. Except for the forested basin with an average of 14 mg 1- l, these concentrations
remained above the 10 mg 1-1 recommended for drinking water (Anonymous, 1972 ). The peak concentrations reached for the same basins were 76,
225 and 771 mg 1-1 (Fig. 2). The average concentrations of 58 and 83 mg 1- ]
for the crop/pasture/forest and pasture respectively were statistically similar.
Insufficient care in maintaining the grass cover, and bank disturbances by
8O0
O)

600

(/)
I.Z
W

400

.-B- Pasture
-e- Crop-pasture-forest
-am- Forest

I~
/

=E

W
ffl
0
w

200

Z
w

26

if)

16

23

16

23

30

1985

50

0
Z
0
<

30

IZ
w

0
Z

,o

0
26
J

16
F

23

16
M

23

30

1985

Fig. 2. Weekly m i n i m u m and m a x i m u m concentrations o f suspended sediments.

INFLUENCE OF PROTECTION FOREST ON SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

233

cattle, explain why the pasture did not provide better protection than the
cropped areas.
The amount of organic and inorganic material lost from each basin was
calculated from stream flow and the concentration of suspended sediments
(Table 4 ). Assuming that export rate is proportional to precipitation, annual
loss was evaluated at 121,345 and 542 kg ha -1 year -1 for the forest, crop/
pasture/forest and pasture cover, respectively. The forest with slopes around
80% export only one-third of the sediments per unit area as compared to other
uses. Knowing the losses from the forested and pastured basins as well as the
area occupied by each land-use in the third basin, the sediments originating
from cropped land were calculated to be 697 kg ha-~ year-i (Table 4). The
material lost, assuming a delivery ratio of 0.5, does not exceed the acceptable
rates of erosion for shallow soils of low inherent fertility set at 500-2000 kg
h a - l year- i by the FAO (Anonymous, 1979).
The rate of soil losses from the forest exceeds the 4, 8 and 31 kg h a - l year- i
respectively observed in Brasil (Bertoni, 1980), Ivory Coast (Mouttapa,
1973) and Guyanna (Roche, 1981 ). Higher rates of 315 and 630 kg ha -I
year-~ were reported from Senegal and Burkina Faso, respectively (Mouttapa, 1973 ). Pasture land from Brasil (Bertoni, 1960) and Puerto Rico (Smith
and Abrufia, 1955 ) yielded 400 and 709 kg h a - l year- l respectively, whereas
erosion rates of 472, 787 and 1181 kg h a - ~ year- 1 were reported for crops
(Mouttapa, 1973 ) in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Senegal, respectively.
Water temperatures ranged from a low of 13, 14 and 15 C to a maximum
of 14, 19 and 20 C for the basins covered by forest, crop/pasture/forest, and
pasture respectively (Fig. 3). The daily temperatures, between 07:00 and
12:00, varied up to 1, 5 and 6C for the same basins. The highest and most
fluctuating water temperatures in the pasture-covered basin are attributed to
the absence of shade and the low streamflow compared with the other basins.
Dissolved-oxygen content is related to water temperature. Most of the concentrations ranged from 7.5 to 8.0, 6.5 to 7.5 and 6.0 to 7.0 ppm for the forest,
TABLE 4
S u s p e n d e d - s e d i m e n t discharge in relation to land use
Period
Study period for 70 days with
576 m m precipitation (kg h a - 1 )
E s t i m a t e d for 1 year with
2000 m m precipitation (kg h a - ~ year - ~)
Specific use
E s t i m a t e d per use (kg h a - ~ y e a r - l )

Forest C3

35
121
Forest
121

Various cover C2

99
345
Crops only
697

Pasture C 1

156
542
Pasture
542

234

11.1
n-

A. PLAMONDON ET AL.
22
20

lee

18

11.1
a.
l.IJ
lngU
I-

16
14
12

26

16

23

16

23

30

1g85

Pasture
"0--

Crop-pasture-forest
Forest

17

er

15

MJ
D.
X

14

nI1
1--

13

I1
I--

12

26
J

16
F

,.

23

16

23

30

1985

Fig. 3. Weekly m i n i m u m a n d m a x i m u m water temperatures.

crop/pasture/forest and pasture cover, respectively (Fig. 4). There was,

however, a tendency for the concentrations taken at the same temperature to
decrease for the basins taken in the same order. Salmonid fish growth declines
noticeably between 8 and 5 ppm (Hermann et al., 1962 ), with a minimum of
7 ppm recommended for reproduction.
The pH was constant at 7.0, 6.5 and 6.0 for the forest, crop/pasture/forest
and pasture covers, respectively. The lower values for the last two basins are
probably related to the organic deposits from cattle and the decomposition of
suspended organic sediments (Hynes, 1970).

INFLUENCE OF PROTECTION FOREST ON SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

235

0
13

14

15

16

17

e -]

18

19

20

Crop-pasture-forest

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

19

20

Pasture

s
6

0
13

14

15

16

17

Temperature

18

(*C)

Fig. 4. Concentrations of dissolved oxygen in relation to water temperatures.

CONCLUSION
T h r e e relatives after changing the land use f r o m forest to crops or pastures,
the soil fertility was m a r k e d l y r e d u c e d as indicated by some elements and the

236

A. PLAMONDONETAL.

exchangeable-Al content. The suspended-sediment concentrations increased

significantly in the streams which were draining the pasture and the crop/
pasture/forest-covered basins. They were always above the recommended
levels for drinking water. Water temperature also increased significantly,
whereas the pH and dissolved 02 concentrations were only slightly modified
by removing the forest. For water-quality protection, this study confirms the
importance of maintaining a forest cover for land with slope gradients above
40% (Rice et al., 1969; Anonymous, 1979). However, when the slope gradients vary between about l 0 and 40% soil conservation measures must be
taken to minimize soil disturbance and, it is hoped retain some of the nutrients. It would also be necessary to keep the streams shaded and to limit the
extend of natural forest removal under approximately one-third of a basin
area.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to thank the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

for their financial support of this project. The project was carried out within
the Masters program in forest science ofLa Molina University. The executive
agency was the University of Toronto. Thanks are also due to Mr. Jos6 Palamino, director of CENFOR, Oxapampa and Mr. Eloy Cordoba of Daniel Alcidez Carrion University in Oxapampa for the field and local laboratory support.

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