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M. P. Sujatha , T. P. Thomas , S. Sankar

Abstract

Considering the importance of reed bamboo (Ochlandra travancorica) in cottage and paper industries along with its indigenous ecofriendly and fast growing nature, this study was conducted to evaluate the impact of reed bamboo on soil characteristics. For this typical soil profiles were studied in three major reed growing areas of Kerala State viz., Vazhachal, Pooyamkutty and Pamba and various soil properties were compared with those of adjacent non-reed bamboo areas. Results revealed that colour, structure, texture and the development of subsurface horizons are greatly influenced by the growth of reed when compared with the adjacent non-reed areas. The dominance of brown colour and coarse texture throughout the soil profiles and the presence of cambic horizon seemed to be characteristic of reed growing soils. A high dominance and increase in the content of lateritic gravel and accumulation of clay in the subsurface layers were noted in non-reed soils than reed soils. The surface soils of reed growing areas were coarse-textured, loose and acidic with higher content of organic matter. Results in general indicated that reed bamboo plays a great role on overall development and fertility of soils through its protective umbrella of canopy, litter and ischolar_main mat.

Keywords

Reed Bamboo, Soil Properties, Western Ghats, Kerala

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S. Sandeep ¹, M. P. Sujatha ¹

Affiliations
1 Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Thrissur 680 653, IN

Abstract

Random X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to identify 1 : 1 clay minerals in soils of five different forest ecosystems such as moist deciduous forests, evergreen forests, shola forests, grasslands and scrub jungles in the southern Western Ghats, India. The study sites experience a humid tropical climate with intense leaching and weathering, except scrub jungle which lies in the rain shadow area of the Western Ghats. XRD analyses of air-dried samples, confirmatory tests using formamide intercalation and SEM could establish kaolinite-halloysite coexistence in clay fractions of three different ecosystems of the Western Ghats. Earlier studies on clay mineralogy in the region failed to establish such coexistence because of the relative metastable nature of halloysite with respect to kaolinite. The identification of soil systems with metastable minerals like halloysite presents interesting possibilities of further studies vis-à-vis soil genesis and management in the tropics.

Keywords

forest Ecosystems, Halloysite, Kaolinite, Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction.

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