IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/caa/jnljfs/vpreprintid47-2025-jfs.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tree growth and soil recovery in Amazonian lands degraded by coca cultivation and grazing

Author

Listed:
  • Luis Walther Espinoza-Ambicho

    (Department of Forest Sciences, Professional School of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, National Agrarian University of the Jungle, Huánuco, Peru)

  • Luis Alberto Valdivia-Espinoza

    (Department of Renewable Natural Resources Sciences, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, National Agrarian University of the Jungle, Huánuco, Peru)

  • Warren Ríos-García

    (Department of Renewable Natural Resources Sciences, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, National Agrarian University of the Jungle, Huánuco, Peru)

  • Martin Valtera

    (Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic)

  • Luis Alberto Valdivia-Ruiz

    (Civil Engineering Program, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru)

  • Tito Felipe González-Manrique de Lara

    (Department of Humanities, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, National Agrarian University of the Jungle, Huánuco, Peru)

  • Lenka Ehrenbergerová

    (Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic)

Abstract

Soil degradation resulting from illicit coca cultivation and unsustainable grazing practices poses a major challenge to ecosystem restoration in the Peruvian Amazon. This study evaluates the potential of fast-growing tree species to rehabilitate degraded soils while producing economically valuable timber. Monoculture plantations of Corymbia torelliana (eucalyptus), Calycophyllum spruceanum (capirona), Colubrina glandulosa (shaina), and Cedrelinga cateniformis (tornillo) were established on former coca and pasture lands in the Alto Huallaga Valley. We assessed tree growth and key soil physicochemical properties - including soil organic matter (SOM), bulk density (BD), pH, extractable phosphorus (P), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) - in topsoil (0-10 cm) and subsoil (10-40 cm) layers. Eucalyptus and tornillo showed the highest diameter growth, while tornillo plots had significantly higher SOM levels. Soil pH was strongly acidic across all plots, and subsoil P was lowest under tornillo. CEC was highest in eucalyptus and capirona plots. Our findings suggest that tree plantations, particularly with eucalyptus, capirona, and tornillo, represent a viable strategy for the sustainable use and rehabilitation of soils formerly used for coca cultivation and grazing.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Walther Espinoza-Ambicho & Luis Alberto Valdivia-Espinoza & Warren Ríos-García & Martin Valtera & Luis Alberto Valdivia-Ruiz & Tito Felipe González-Manrique de Lara & Lenka Ehrenbergerová, . "Tree growth and soil recovery in Amazonian lands degraded by coca cultivation and grazing," Journal of Forest Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 0.
    • Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:preprint:id:47-2025-jfs
    DOI: 10.17221/47/2025-JFS
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/47/2025-JFS.html
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17221/47/2025-JFS?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:preprint:id:47-2025-jfs. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ivo Andrle (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cazv.cz/en/home/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.