Abstract

Silvia Mónica Avilés Marín , Arturo Galvis Spínola, , Angel Faz Cano , Roberto Soto Ortíz , Ángel López López and Daniel González Mendoza

We evaluated the mode of decomposition in relation to biochemical quality of plant residues and land use. Alfisols under different uses (woodland, grassland and cultivated soils) mixed with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and wheat straw (Triticum aestivum L.) in doses of 10 t ha-1 (dry weight) were incubated in laboratory, in triplicate. CO 2 emitted from soil was measured after 20, 40, 60, and 80 h of incubation, and the amount of released C was calculated (mg C g-1 soil). The difference between the amount of C added by the plant residue and C liberated as CO 2, was named residual C. The C loss was greater and residual C retained was lower (p grassland > cultivated soils, and less residual C is retained.