Conclusion
When the soils are converted from forest to coffee plantation, it has
resulted in an increase in soil clay content, pH, organic carbon stock,
available nutrients and CEC in the coffee plantation ecosystem. The
surface of coffee plantation soils recorded higher status of available
nutrients indicating human interference by management practices as the
conversion to plantation disrupts the efficient nutrient recycling
mechanisms of the forests and increases the nutrient availability in the
top soil by fertilization. The conversion has resulted in an increase in
land quality and this could prove the restorative effects of conversion
to coffee plantation.
However, forest ecosystems contain ecologically sensitive components.
Though the land use change to plantation ecosystem has resulted in an
improved nutrient status and land quality in terms of indicators like
pH, CEC, soil organic carbon stock, the ecologically sensitive
components must have been disturbed as this could not be compensated by
the effects of agricultural practices. Thus to improve soils under
coffee plantation, organic matter input, proper soil conservation
measures to reduce erosion could be considered sustainable. The
practices that minimally disturb, replace or maintain the original
structure of tropical forests tend to be those that are most likely to
be sustainable in the long-term. On conversion of forest to coffee
plantation, with change in land use, there was an overall increase in
land quality reassured on par with forests, owing to good management of
enterprise and canopy management involving shade trees.