Soil quality indicators to evaluate environmental services at different landscape positions and land uses in the Atlantic Forest biome

The objective of this study was to compare the potential of different land uses and landscape positions to provide environmental services by comparing the soil quality indicators. The study was conducted in the municipality of Alegre, Brazil on a Red- Yellow Oxisol. Three land uses (pasture, coffee, and secondary forest) were evaluated in the upper and lower slope positions at two depths (0.0–0.10 and 0.10–0.20 ​m) with three replications. The chemical indicators analyzed were pH, Al³⁺, H ​+ ​Al, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺, P, sum of base (SB), base saturation (BS), aluminum saturation (AS), and total organic carbon (OC). The physical indicators analyzed examined were aggregate stability in water and calculating the geometric mean diameter (GMD), bulk density (BD), particle density (PD), macroporosity (Ma), microporosity (Mi), total porosity (TP), field capacity (FP), wilting point (WP), and available water (AW). The succession of forest area followed by the establishment of coffee or pasture has led to a decrease in soil quality, reducing the ability of these areas to provide environmental services. The positions of the landscape did not show any influence on soil quality for all the studied areas. This finding indicates that the relief is not a specific factor controlling the soil quality, but the observed variations resulted from the difference in land use practice.