The Relationship Between the Chemical Properties of Native Woody Species and the Soil, in a Secondary Forest of the Eastern Chaco (Argentina)

Abstract

The horizontal distribution of trees within forests is due in part to the composition of the substrate, but there are also effects of the trees on the properties of the soil. This work focused on the relationship between the chemical composition of the foliar tissues of four species of the most abundant deciduous trees found in the “quebrachal” (xerophitic forest), and the chemical properties of the soil under their crowns. The species were two trees: Schinopsis balansae Engl. and Acacia praecox Gris. and two bushes, Maytenus vitis-idaea Gris. and Achatocarpus praecox Gris. The chemical variables that were analysed were: C/N, N, Ca, Mg, K and P. The most important association between the foliar tissues and the soil was found for P, under the crown of S. balansae. These results would reassure the idea that the most important woody species within the “quebrachal” would be modifying the conditions of the substrate.

Key Words:

• Chaco oriental
• foliar tissue
• randomization
• redundancy analysis
• Schinopsis balansae
• tissue chemical composition
• xerophitic forest