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Soil Fertility and Production Potential

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 Chapter 6

SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTION POTENTIAL

JOHANNES LEHMANN1, DIRSE KERN2, LAURA GERMAN3, JOE

MCCANN4, GILVAN COIMBRA MARTINS5, ADONIS MOREIRA5
1
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; 2Museu Goeldi,
Belem, PA, Brazil; 3African Highlands Initiative, International Centre for Research in
Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya; 4Division of Social Sciences, New School University,
New York, NY, USA; 5Embrapa Amazônia Ocidental, Manaus, AM, Brazil

1. INTRODUCTION
Upland soils in the Amazon Basin generally have low fertility and soil organic
matter (SOM) contents. These soils are most commonly clayey Acrisols and
Ferralsols with local occurrences of sandy Podzols (Sombroek, 2000). Throughout
Amazônia, however, soils with very different properties have been found which
have a dark brown or black color instead of the yellowish-white or red of the
surrounding soils. These so-called terra preta de índio (or anthropogenic dark
earths, further called Amazonian Dark Earths – ADE) were created by Amerindian
populations in pre-Columbian times approximately 500 to 2500 years ago. Apart
from high SOM contents, the most striking feature of ADE is their high nutrient
content. The origin of these nutrient-rich patches in an otherwise largely infertile
soilscape has been the focus of intensive debate in the past (Myers et al., 2003).
While their anthropogenic origin is now widely accepted, the human activities which
actually led to the high SOM and nutrient contents remain unclear (Woods et al.,
2000; Petersen et al., 2001; Meggers, 2001; Neves et al., 2003; Woods, 2003).
Specifically the question of whether these soils were managed for agricultural use or
are a byproduct of human habitation has not yet been resolved. Regardless of this
debate, a large number of contemporary farmers highly value these soils for their
fertility. The properties of Amazonian Dark Earths can give us important
information about the fertility potential of the highly weathered upland soils of the
Amazon Basin, having significant implications for soil management in Amazônia
and beyond. The present discussion does not promote, however, an intensified
agricultural use of the archaeological sites. In the following paper, we present an
overview of the chemistry and dynamics of nutrients in Amazonian Dark Earths, the
regional distribution of nutrient availability in ADE, and the effects on plant growth
and crop yields.

105
J. Lehmann, et al. (eds.), Amazonian Dark Earths: Origin, Properties, Management, 105-124.
© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
106 AMAZONIAN DARK EARTHS

2. SOIL FERTILITY

2.1. Total Nutrient Contents and Nutrient Availability

The most striking property of Amazonian Dark Earths is their high fertility. This has
been described in several publications since the early expeditions in the 1860s and
70s by Cornell professor Charles F. Hartt (1874, 1885) and his student Herbert H.
Smith (1879: 144) and analytical data have been documented by Sombroek (1966),
Smith (1980), Kern and Kämpf (1989) and others. However, these soils do not have
high availability of all nutrients necessary for optimum plant productivity. In
addition, total contents may be high but they are not available to plants. The latter is,
for example, true for nitrogen (N). The N contents of ADE are typically much
greater than those of adjacent soils, however the availability of N may be only
slightly higher or even lower, as shown in the example from Klinge (1962; Fig. 1).
For two ADE from the lower Rio Negro and Belterra (Glaser, 1999; Fig. 1),
available N increased more than total N in comparison to adjacent soils, but N
mineralization in relation to total soil N was lower in the Dark Earths (Fig. 2).
Additional evidence is provided by a greenhouse experiment, in which foliar N
contents and total N uptake by rice (Oryza sativa L.) and cowpea (Vigna
unguiculata (L.) Walp.) were 18-58 % lower when grown on ADE than on a
Ferralsol (Lehmann et al., 2002, 2003b). Total and available phosphorus (P) and
calcium (Ca) contents usually increased the most in ADE compared to other
nutrients (Fig. 1). Available P increased more than total P, indicating that a larger
part of the added P in the Dark Earths is in plant-available form compared to
adjacent soils. Available and total Ca and magnesium (Mg) contents do not show a
consistent trend in this respect. Available manganese (Mn) contents increased to the
same extent as total Mn. Neither available nor total potassium (K), iron (Fe), and
zinc (Zn) increased compared to adjacent soils. Both total sulfur (S) and copper (Cu)
contents increased however, by more than 100% (Fig. 1). The presented data reflect
general trends for the different nutrients. Comparisons may not be clear-cut in all
situations because it is difficult to determine where ADE ends and where the
adjacent and unenriched soil begins.
The largest proportion of N is usually present in soil in organic forms, and this is
also the case for ADE, while more inorganic than organic P is usually present (Table
1). The examples shown from cultivated fields indicate that the proportion of
inorganic N and P increases in ADE compared to adjacent Ferralsols. The
uncultivated fields showed lower proportions of inorganic than organic P in ADE
than Ferralsols. No information is currently available for S.
These data indicate that Amazonian Dark Earths do not necessarily have high
availability of all nutrients important for plant growth. While total and available
contents of some nutrients, such as K, Mg, or Fe, may not be higher at all, other
nutrients have higher total contents, such as N, but those contents are not necessarily
 SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTION POTENTIAL 107

Difference from adjacent Ferralsol [log %] 100000

Total nutrients
Available nutrients

10000

1000

100

nd nd nd

[1] [2] [2] [3] [4] [5] [1] [2]

N N N P P P P P P P P P P P S S S Ca Ca
Difference from adjacent Ferralsol [%]

700
Total nutrients
600 Available nutrients

500

400

300

200

100
nd nd
0
[3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3]
K K Mg Mg Fe Fe Zn Zn Mn Mn Cu Cu

Figure 1: Available and total nutrient contents of Amazonian Dark Earths in comparison to
adjacent soils:
Nut ADE − Nut non− ADE
Difference[%] = ∗ 100
Nut non− ADE

References: [1] Klinge (1962); [2] Glaser (1999); [3] Kern (1996) (P, total K, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu
from annex 9, 10, 24; Ca, Mg from annex 1-3); [4] Sombroek (unpubl. data); [5]Lima (2001);
note difference in scale between the two graphs.
108 AMAZONIAN DARK EARTHS

Cumulative N mineralization [mg N g N]

-1
100
sandy Amazonian Dark Earth C/N ratio
sandy Ferralsol
clayey Amazonian Dark Earth 15.3
80 clayey Ferralsol
10.3
15.4
60

40 14.7

20

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Incubation [days]

Figure 2: Cumulative N mineralization (NO3–, NH4+, organic N) of sandy (88% sand) and
clayey (10% sand) Amazonian Dark Earths in comparison to adjacent Ferralsols; determined
in mini-lysimeters of soil mixed with quartz sand (1:1 w/w) (means and standard errors; N=5;
Glaser, 1999).

Table 1: Inorganic and organic nutrient contents of Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE) and
comparable upland soils (values in brackets are percent of total).

Location Nitrogen Phosphorus Ref.

inorganic organic inorganic organic
————————— [mg kg-1] ————————
ADE 45 (2) 2755 (98) nd nd [1]
Forest soils 39 (5) 811 (95) nd nd [1]

ADE Açutuba (TP1) 127 (5) 2773 (95) 1624 (75) 541 (25) [2]
ADE Calderão (TP2) nd nd 837 (79) 222 (21) [2]
ADE Iranduba (TP3) nd nd 838 (86) 137 (14) [2]
ADE Rio Preto da Eva (TP4) nd nd 662 (63) 389 (37) [2]
ADE Belterra (TP5) 407 (7) 5844 (93) 912 (63) 535 (37) [2]
Adjacent soils (average†) 30 (3) 1110 (97) 287 (85) 52 (15) [2]

ADE Marajá nd nd 1754 (57) 1342 (43) [3]

ADE Rio Preto da Eva nd nd 118 (62) 74 (38) [3]
Ferralsol nd nd 23 (38) 36 (62) [3]
[1] A-horizon of Amazonian Dark Earths (N=2) and clayey forest soils (Ferralsols and Acrisols; N=4)
(Klinge, 1962). [2] Topsoil (0-0.1 m) of cultivated and fertilized fields (Glaser, 1999). [3] Topsoil (0-
0.1 m) of uncultivated soil (Lehmann et al., 2003a).
† average was chosen for reasons of clarity, although it is recognized that nutrient contents vary
significantly between adjacent soils. Conclusions are valid for individual comparisons, as well.
 SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTION POTENTIAL 109

readily available. The mineral matrix of Amazonian Dark Earths is strongly

weathered, often showing high contents of quartz and kaolinite contents, and
therefore possesses few weatherable minerals which could potentially release
nutrients (Kern, 1996). Thus, nutrient availability in ADE relies more on nutrient
release from exchange sites and soil organic matter through biological processes
than on weathering of parent material.

2.2. Nutrient Release from Soil Organic Matter

Nitrogen, P, and S are contained to a large extent in soil organic matter (SOM)
(Table 1) and their release from SOM determines their availability to plants (Fig. 2).
This release depends on the so-called “quality” of SOM (compare with Glaser et al.,
2003). For example, the C/N ratio of the clayey Ferralsol (10.3) was lower than the
C/N ratio of the clayey ADE (14.7), and consequently cumulative N mineralization
was higher in the Ferralsol than the ADE (Fig. 2). Nitrogen, P, and S are released
more slowly or even immobilized by microorganisms, if the C/N, C/P, or C/S ratios
are above 20, 200, and 200, respectively (Stevenson and Cole, 1999). The C/N ratios
of Amazonian Dark Earths reach from 12-40 (Sombroek, 1966; Kern and Kämpf,
1989; Glaser, 1999; Lehmann et al., 2003b), and are frequently higher than those of
other upland soils in the Amazon Basin.
However, important differences exist between nutrient release from soil with
similar ratios, since the chemical forms of C and its physical protection in
aggregates and organo-mineral complexes are known to affect SOM mineralization
and the concurrent release of nutrients. A higher proportion of N was stabilized in
the silt fraction of ADE than that of Ferralsols (Glaser, 1999), indicative of stable
organic nutrients. Therefore, net N mineralization in ADE may not only be low due
to high C/N ratios but also due to physical protection of organic N. Also the
proportions of stable organic P and of those P fractions with slow turnover, as
obtained from sequential P fractionation, were higher in ADE than in the cultivated
Ferralsols (Glaser, 1999; Lehmann et al., 2003a). At the same time, P turnover was
higher in ADE than in the adjacent Ferralsols, as seen from a high proportion of P in
microbial biomass and higher respiration (Glaser, 1999). Thus, N is more likely to
be immobilized and less available in Amazonian Dark Earths than P, which shows
high availability for plant uptake.
Another consideration is the high amount of black carbon present in ADE and its
effects on N, P, and S release. In the absence of direct experimental evidence, we
can hypothesize for N that: (i) black C particles have high C/N ratios and do not
release any N, but do not influence the N release of non-black C. In this case, the N
release from the organic matter that is not associated with black C would need to be
determined separately; (ii) black C is finely distributed and has a direct influence on
the N release from non-black C. Available data indicate that black C indeed
influences total N release either by microbial immobilization due to the high C/N
ratios of the black C or by catalytic effects of the high surface area of the black C.
110 AMAZONIAN DARK EARTHS

2.3. Nutrient Adsorption and Availability

The adsorption of nutrients by soils affects nutrient retention against leaching and
plant-availability. Amazonian Dark Earths often show higher soil pH, coarser soil
texture (Kern and Kämpf, 1989; Costa and Kern, 1999) (Fig. 3), higher SOM
contents and altered SOM quality (Sombroek, 1966; Glaser et al., 2000, 2001) than
adjacent soils, which all change adsorption properties. Higher pH usually increases
the effective cation exchange capacity (CEC determined at the pH of the soil)
especially of highly weathered soils with a high proportion of variable charge.
Higher quartz contents and lower kaolinite contents of ADE than adjacent Ferralsols
(Costa and Kern, 1999; Fig. 3) decrease the CEC of the mineral matrix. This may
not play an important role, however, since the CEC of the clay minerals is very low
in acid upland soils in Amazônia and the total CEC is mainly controlled by SOM
(Sombroek, 1966). At the same time, lower clay contents may decrease fixation and
occludation of P. This has not yet been directly shown, but can be expected.
The usually higher SOM contents in ADE increase the potential CEC
(determined at pH 7), and the higher pH increases the effective CEC and base
saturation (Sombroek, 1966). In contrast to soils from temperate climates, which
usually exhibit a strong correlation between clay content and CEC, only 33% of the
CEC increases in Amazonian Dark Earths can be described by their clay contents
(y=0.698x+13; r2=0.33; P<0.001; N=55 from topsoils of independent sites).
However, this relationship is noteworthy since Sombroek (1966) showed that the
clay does not contribute at all to CEC in the highly weathered upland soils of central
Amazônia. The reason for this trend towards higher CEC with increasing clay
contents in Amazonian Dark Earths may lie in the fact that higher clay contents
increase aggregate formation and C stabilization.
Additionally, SOM in Amazonian Dark Earths contributes proportionally more
to CEC than in Ferralsols with comparable organic matter contents. Figure 4 shows
that the CEC values of the Dark Earths all lie above the average ratio of CEC to
organic C found in forest soils of similar mineralogy. This result indicates that SOM
in ADE is more effective in increasing CEC than SOM in Ferralsols. An explanation
may be found in the fact that ADE contain large amounts of partly oxidized
pyrogenic carbon (black carbon) (Glaser et al., 2003), which may have more
exchange sites than non-pyrogenic decomposed plant material due to oxidation of
the aromatic carbon and formation of carboxylic groups. Additionally, the pyrogenic
carbon is more stable than the non-pyrogenic carbon. As a consequence, more
exchange sites are formed and maintained before the organic material is mineralized
to carbon dioxide. Sombroek (1966) provided data showing a significant relationship
between total P and potential CEC, which were interpreted by a formation of
phosphate complexes in organic matter near the topsoil and with phosphate bonding
to mineral surfaces in the subsoil. No direct evidence can be found to date to support
a direct complexation of phosphate and organic matter. An alternative explanation is
that organic matter is usually strongly bonded to Fe oxides (McBride et al., 1983),
which in turn fix inorganic P creating the observed correlation between P and CEC.
 SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTION POTENTIAL 111

% change of sand contents from adjacent Ferralsol

400

300 98
-1
Total sand content [g kg soil]:

630
200
650

610
100
470

879 642 365

420
0
480

-100
[1] [2] [1] [3] [3] [2] [3] [3] [1] [1]
gro ina ira Mina ha na
uin riximi uquin
ha legre va r ra
io Ne rixim o Pire u q a A da E Belte
R O ca nd O nd Pon t to
Ca Ma Ma Pre
Rio

Figure 3: Sand content of Amazonian Dark Earths in comparison to adjacent Ferralsols (%

increase or decrease of sand content in Ferralsol); numbers on bars indicate the total sand
content of ADE; references: [1] Glaser (1999), [2] Kern and Kämpf (1989), [3] Kern (1996).
Potential cation exchange capacity

500

400
[mmolc kg ]
-1

300

es
rofil
200 st p
fore

100

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
-1
Soil organic carbon [g kg ]

Figure 4: Potential cation exchange capacity of Amazonian Dark Earths (dots) (CEC
determined with ammonium acetate buffered at pH 7) as influenced by organic C contents in
comparison to forest soils (line) of similar clay mineralogy (redrawn after Sombroek et al.,
1993; with permission by Ambio).
112 AMAZONIAN DARK EARTHS

High organic matter usually affects the adsorption of P and micronutrients.

However, very little is known about the specific effects in ADE, and P adsorption
isotherms have not been determined. Organic acids were shown to decrease P
adsorption (Lopez-Hernandez et al., 1986) and thereby increase P availability in a
Brazilian Ferralsol (LeMare et al., 1987). This effect may contribute to the
proportionally high P availability in relation to total P observed in the Amazonian
Dark Earths (Fig. 1). Falcão et al. (2003) observed high P adsorption to charcoal
collected from ADE which may explain their high P retention and concentration.
It is interesting to note that plant-available P was not related to the amount of
organic C, whereas 48% of the variability of the extractable Ca could be explained
by the C contents of Amazonian Dark Earths (Fig. 5). Additionally, Ca and P were
not significantly related (P>0.1; N=60; topsoils of independent soil profiles). None
of these relationships were affected by soil texture. Therefore, ADE with high C
contents generally contain more available Ca, but this is not necessarily true for P.
Similar significant correlations between organic C and Ca were not found for clayey
Ferralsols from central Amazônia (A. Moreira, unpubl. data; 15-80 g C kg-1;
available Ca 1-21 mmolc kg-1; N=505), or from Ferralsols and Acrisols of the USDA
data base (see Jobbagy et al., 2001, for information; N=138 and 666, respectively).
This result has implications for the classification of Amazonian Dark Earths as well
as for their fertility management. Further implications may be provided with respect
to the discussion of the origin of ADE and the sources for their extraordinarily high
C, Ca, and P contents. Two explanations emerge from the observed relationships:
either (i) at least two different materials were added to soil, one with both high C
and Ca contents, and one with high P contents; or (ii) the stabilization of C, Ca and P
in soil organic matter followed different patterns. We will not be able to elaborate on
the first point in this contribution (see Neves et al., 2003), but we will discuss the
second explanation. It is known that the Dark Earths were enriched with organic
matter and nutrients at least 500 years ago. Therefore, sufficient time passed to allow
significant changes in soil chemistry. Two processes may explain the close
relationship between Ca and C, (i) a stabilization of C by Ca, and (ii) a stabilization
of Ca by C. Soil organic matter extractability was shown to be lower after additions
of Ca-hydroxide to a humic Ranker from Spain (Condron et al., 1993) or CaCO3 and
CaSO4 to an Alisol from Australia (Muneer and Oades, 1989), but mechanisms and
importance of the stabilization remain uncertain. Additionally, Ca and soil organic
matter were frequently shown to increase soil flocculation in contrast to, for
example, Mg (Heil and Sposito, 1993; Fuller et al., 1995) to improve aggregate
stability (Castro and Logan, 1991) and may have enhanced physical protection of
SOM. However, the opposite is often observed in acid upland soils in the humid
tropics, which have a low point of zero net charge and exchange sites dominated by
Al. Schuffelen and Middelburg (1954) pointed out that increasing the pH by
additions of lime decreases aggregate stability due to a displacement of the trivalent
Al by the divalent Ca. These results suggest that Ca is unlikely to increase C
stabilization to a large extent. On the other hand, there may not only be an effect of
Ca on C contents, but C may also affect Ca stabilization. Organic matter increases
the CEC which improves Ca retention. Since Amazonian Dark Earths contain large
amounts of Ca, this may explain the observed relationship between Ca and C.
 SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTION POTENTIAL 113

However, Ca contents are several orders of magnitude greater than in adjacent soils,
exceeding by far the increase observed for organic C contents and CEC. This
suggests that additional mechanisms are in effect. Calcium apparently possesses a
high affinity for SOM beyond what would be predicted considering its size and
charge (McBride, 1989). Calcium is electrostatically bonded to carboxylic groups (–
COOH) and is preferred over most other alkaline-earth cations at low concentrations
(Baes and Bloom, 1988). The mechanism of this preference is not entirely clear.
Leenheer et al. (1998) found high binding constants for Ca in fulvic acids extracted
from the Suwannee River, Georgia. Calcium binding substructures in organic matter
that were considered important are the oxy-succinic acid model. Both alkali and
alkaline-earth cations are additionally able to form so-called “crown” macrocycles
that merely depend on the steric configuration of the cation and the receptor and not
on electrostatic bonds. Calcium is selectively complexed in macrocyclic
multidentates with a dominant number of N-donors but not in many other
macrocycles and ethers (Bajaj and Poonia, 1988). It remains to be shown whether
the forms of macrocycles that can act as receptors for Ca are found to a larger extent
in ADE. Activated carbons produced from wood, which may have some similarities
with incompletely combusted organic C found in the Dark Earths, were shown to
have high adsorption capacities for metals, but not specifically for Ca (Jia et al.,
2002). The presumably large amount of Ca inputs to these soils can explain the
dominance of Ca at the exchange complex, even though this does not explain a
particular specificity for Ca. These elaborations are still speculative but may provide
suggestions for future research.
Phosphorus is mainly present as inorganic phosphate in ADE (Table 1) and may
therefore not correlate with SOM contents. These observations may provide an
explanation for why, in contrast to P, Ca and C are closely related in ADE.
Therefore, the most likely explanation for the observed relationships is based on
chemical dynamics in soil and not on different inputs during habitation by
Amerindian populations.

2.4 Nutrient Leaching

Many of the Amazonian Dark Earths have a coarse texture, and water percolation is
therefore very rapid under the humid tropical climate of Amazônia. Surprisingly,
nutrient leaching was very low (Fig. 6) as determined in a percolation experiment
with a Dark Earth from Rio Preto da Eva, north of Manaus, Brazil. This was not an
effect of low water percolation, but rather of retention of nutrients in the soil, as
water percolation was in fact higher in the ADE than a Ferralsol from the same
region (Lehmann et al., 2003b). Cumulative leaching of mineral N, K, Ca, and Mg
in the Amazonian Dark Earth was only 24, 45, 79, and 7%, respectively, of that
found in a Ferralsol. The large proportion of Ca at the exchange complex explains
the relatively high Ca leaching. However, Ca leaching is still very low in
comparison to the high availability of Ca in the ADE (Fig. 6) which led to a 120%
higher Ca uptake compared to an unfertilized control in the same experiment
114 AMAZONIAN DARK EARTHS

10000
>30 % clay
Available Ca [mg kg ]

<30 % clay
-1

8000

6000

4000 2
r =0.477 (P<0.001)
N=60
y=51.4x-3.8
2000

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
-1
Organic carbon [mg g ]

2000

>30 % clay
Available P [mg kg ]
-1

1500 <30 % clay

1000

500

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
-1
Organic carbon [mg g ]

Figure 5: Relationships between organic C and available P (Mehlich-1) and Ca (KCl) in

Amazonian Dark Earths; only independent data were taken, i.e. only topsoil data from
different sites (from Smith (1980), Kern and Kämpf (1989), Kern (1996), Glaser (1999), Lima
(2001), Embrapa Rio de Janeiro (unpubl. data), N. Falcão (unpubl. data), L. German
(unpubl. data), W. Sombroek (unpubl. data)).
 SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTION POTENTIAL 115

(Lehmann et al., 2003b). Nutrient leaching is controlled by the release from

adsorption sites and from organic matter by mineralization, which is apparently
sufficiently slow or of low enough intensity to prevent excessive leaching. When
inorganic nutrients were applied to the Amazonian Dark Earths as a fertilizer,
however, leaching proved very high and exceeded that found in the Ferralsol
(Lehmann et al., 2003b). Therefore, the exchange capacity was easily exhausted.
This has implications for the management of ADE as well as for the creation of
similarly fertile soils in the humid tropics.
In unfertilized and unpolluted soils, a large proportion of N, P, and S is usually
present in the soil solution in organic forms, as shown for organic N in several
watersheds in Chile (Perakis and Hedin, 2002). In a Ferralsol under secondary and
primary forests near Manaus, Brazil, up to 40-93% of total N and 43-99% of total S
in the leachate at 0.1, 0.6 and 2 m depths were contained in dissolved organic matter
(Lehmann and Kaiser, 2002). These values should be found or even exceeded in
ADE, as these possess high SOM contents. The mobility and microbial degradability
of dissolved organic nutrients largely depends on whether they are contained in
hydrophobic or hydrophilic dissolved organic matter. While S was entirely present
as hydrophobic organic matter (Lehmann and Kaiser, 2002) and therefore less
mobile in soil, up to 90% of the total N was found in hydrophilic dissolved organic
matter. Studies on leaching in ADE therefore need to include organic nutrient forms
to quantify and understand total nutrient losses.

2.5 Soil Moisture Availability

The effect of soil management on soil moisture largely depends on soil texture.
Generally, higher SOM contents increase the available water content in soil partly
through improved aggregation and partly through the creation of mesopores (0.2-10
µm diameter). Consequently, the field capacity in the topsoil horizons averaged 260 ±
10 mm m-1 in ADE and 220 ± 10 mm m-1 in adjacent Ferralsols (B. Glaser, unpubl.
data). The effects of higher SOM contents will be more pronounced in soils with a
coarse texture than in those with a fine texture, because (i) finely textured soils
already have elevated available water contents, and (ii) aggregation of Amazonian
Ferralsols is not increased by higher SOM contents (Lehmann et al., 2001). Since
many ADE have a coarse soil texture, the organic matter contents play an important
role in soil-water relationships. Higher water availability in ADE than in adjacent
sites was already mentioned by Hartt (1885) reporting greener vegetation during the
dry season. On the other hand, aeration is better in ADE than Ferralsols, and water
logging and surface runoff can be expected to be lower.

2.6 Soil Depth and Size of Amazonian Dark Earths

The depth of the horizons of ADE enriched with organic matter determines the total
amount of available nutrients and soil water relationships. Deeper enrichment with
116 AMAZONIAN DARK EARTHS

10
C/N ratio:
8 N 13

6
Amazonian Dark Earth
4 Ferralsol
2 17

0
0 10 20 30 40
10

8 K
Cumulative leaching [kg ha ]
-1

6 plant available:

4 28.1

2 10.2

0
0 10 20 30 40

10
14.8
8 Ca 32.8
6
plant available
4

0
0 10 20 30 40
10

8 Mg
6 plant available:

8.8
4

2
4.7
0
0 10 20 30 40

Days after crop planting

Figure 6: Nutrient leaching from an Amazonian Dark Earth and a Xanthic Ferralsol
determined in lysimeters (0.2 m diameter) cropped to rice (Oryza sativa L.) for 37 days, and
nutrient availability (total C and N determined by dry combustion; cations extracted using
KCl for Ca and Mg, Mehlich-1 for K); means and standard errors, N=4 (modified after
Lehmann et al., 2003b).
 SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTION POTENTIAL 117

SOM increases soil nutrient and water availability, and therefore increases crop
production. The total depth of the organically enriched horizons varies substantially
between sites (Smith, 1980). Amazonian Dark Earths can be as shallow as 0.2 m, or
can reach to depths of more than 1 m. Total nutrient stocks therefore vary by one
order of magnitude between ADE sites. Additionally, depth of enrichment varies
within a given site according to the layout of the settlement (Kern, 1996). In many
cases, the greatest enrichment is found not near the topsoil, but at depth.

3. PRODUCTION POTENTIAL

3.1. Crop Yields

The high fertility described above results in generally higher yields from Amazonian
Dark Earths than from adjacent soils (Picture Annex, Fig. 3). In an on-farm
experiment, maize grain yield (Fig. 7) and growth (Fig. 8) were significantly greater
on ADE than Ferralsols (German, 2001). However, the variability of grain yield was
large and crop yields on ADE with a low production potential were also shown to be
lower than those in Ferralsols (Fig. 7). The dynamics of maize height (Fig. 8)
revealed more rapid crop growth on ADE than on adjacent soils during initial stages
of development, whereas differences diminished towards maturation.
Higher yields on ADE may depend considerably on crop species due to their
different nutrient and water requirements. For example, crops with high K
requirements, such as bananas, may not grow as well as those crops which have high
P requirements, such as legumes. Consequently bean yields are generally higher on
ADE than on unenriched soils (Table 2). On the other hand, corn production on
ADE was not increased compared to that on soils of the periodically inundated
Várzea. Manioc was reported to grow more vigorously on ADE of the Tapajos than
on adjacent soils with more than 50% increased growth (J. McCann, unpubl. data).

3.2 Regional and Spatial Variations of Production Potential and Fertility

The soil fertility and yields described in Sections 2 and 3.1 may differ vastly among
regions, sites, and even within a given site. Costa and Kern (1999) studied the
geochemical composition of a Dark Earth site in Caxiuanã. The total contents of P,
K, Mg, and Ca varied by a factor of 5 within the site. These variations were not
associated with random heterogeneity of the soil, but with past human activity, since
they show distinct spatial patterns. Already Sombroek (1966) mentioned the
existence of certain types of ADE (called terra mulata) that did not contain artifacts,
but which appeared to be associated with the anthropogenic activity as well as with
those Dark Earths that contained artifacts. McCann et al. (2001) found that these
soils have distinctly different chemical composition and probably a different genesis,
as discussed in Kämpf et al. (2003) and Neves et al. (2003). They contain similar
amounts of organic C, but less available P and Ca (McCann et al., 2001). Therefore,
different types of ADE at a given location have different fertility and production
118 AMAZONIAN DARK EARTHS

200
180
160
140
Yield [g pot ]
-1

120
100
80 a ab

60
40 b

20
0 0 0
0
N* RN RN E* RN NA RU N N N U N A U N N N N
LR L L RP L LR LR LR R LR N R LR LR LR LR
Amazonian Transitional Ferralsols
Dark Earths Soils

Figure 7: Grain yield of maize (Zea mays L.) grown in pots (0.3 m height, 0.2 m diameter)
filled with unfertilized topsoil (0-0.3 m) of ADE containing artifacts, transitional soils, and
Ferralsols randomly collected from smallholder farmers along the Lower Rio Negro (LRN),
Rio Preto da Eva (RPA), Novo Airão (NA) and Rio Urubu (RU) areas (bars: N=3 for each
location, points: means of all ADE types and Ferralsols, respectively; completely randomized
design; * from fertilized soils of commercial farms); three seeds planted per bag (missing
plants were replanted in week two), harvest after 12 weeks; rainfed; grain was weighed after
drying at 70ºC for 24 hours (German, 2001).

2.5
Amazonian Dark Earths NS
2.0 Transitional soils (*)
Ferralsols
Maize height [m]

*
1.5
**

1.0 **
*
0.5

0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Weeks after planting

Figure 8: Growth of maize (Zea mays L.) grown on topsoil of Amazonian Dark Earths,
transitional soils, and adjacent Ferralsol as described in Fig. 7 (N=5, 4, 7, respectively)
(German, 2001).
 Table 2. Production of rice (Oryza sativa L.), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), and corn (Zea mays L.) on Amazonian Dark Earths
(ADE) and upland soils (Ferralsols and Acrisols) or Várzea soils in the central Amazon near Manaus, Brazil (G. Martins, unpubl.
data).

Crop Species Soil Type Location Year Number of Replicates Production

Cultivars per plot† Average Range
[Mg ha-1]

Rice ADE Apuí 2000 22 3 2.6 1.9-3.4

ADE Iranduba 2001 28 3 2.4 0.5-3.8
Upland soils‡ 1.5-1.8
Beans ADE Apuí 1997-2000 32 4 0.6 0.1-1.9
Upland soils‡ 0.3-0.8
Corn ADE Apuí 2001 85 3 3.3 2.2-4.7
Várzea 3.5
SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTION POTENTIAL

† Plot size 1.8 by 5 m.

‡ Adjacent soils on farmers fields (50 by 50 m).
119
120 AMAZONIAN DARK EARTHS

potentials. Examples of these soils from the Rio Negro and Urubu region that did not
contain artifacts but had elevated SOM contents, produced similarly high yields as
the ADE with artifacts (“transitional soils” in Fig. 7).
Figure 9 examines the plant-availability of P and Ca in ADE on a regional scale
within the Amazon Basin. It should be noted that the distribution shown reflects
neither the properties of the entire body nor a representative portion of Amazonian
Dark Earths, but is dependent on the availability of data. These data may therefore
be biased towards easy accessibility and greater extent of ADE sites and need to be
evaluated with caution. According to these data (Fig. 9), P contents tend to be higher
near larger streams than small tributaries, whereas Ca contents are more evenly
distributed throughout the basin. These differences may be interpreted with varying
lengths of habitation, and population densities, but also availability of resources. No
difference in soil P and Ca contents is apparent from the data gathered between
white and clear water river systems. Available P contents, however, appear to be
lower in black water streams. Despite these subtle regional differences that have to
be explored further, the general trend over the large territory of the Amazon appears
to be a relatively uniform distribution of the two nutrients that are enriched the most
in Amazonian Dark Earths.

3.3. Biological N2 Fixation

Biological N2 fixation is the microbial transformation of atmospheric N2 into organic
N. Many microorganisms are able to perform this process, such as Rhizobia in
symbiosis with most legumes, or free-living bacteria and blue-green algae.
Symbiotic N2 fixation is by far more effective (3-206 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for grain
legumes) than the fixation by free-living microorganisms (less than 5 kg N ha-1 yr-1)
(Giller, 2001). The amount of symbiotically fixed N2 depends on the soil reaction
and the availability of certain nutrients in soil. Low pH, high Al activity and high
Mn availability restrict the survival and growth of Rhizobia, as does low P, Ca, Mo
and to a lesser extent low Co, B, Fe, Ni, Se, Zn and Cu availability (Giller, 2001). In
addition, high nitrate contents in soil reduce nitrogenase activity and thus N2
fixation. Amazonian Dark Earths have higher pH and usually no exchangeable Al
and lower nitrate or exchangeable Mn contents than adjacent soils, while availability
of P, Ca, and Cu is high (Lehmann et al., 2003b). These conditions are ideal for
maximum biological N2 fixation. While non-leguminous crops may encounter N
deficiency due to low N availablity in Amazonian Dark Earths (see section 2.1),
grain legumes may not be limited by N availability. Additionally, legumes may have
a competitive advantage in natural regrowth and fallows.
Whereas nodules were difficult to find in Ferralsols in a survey comprising
multiple locations of the central Amazon Basin, nodulation was abundant in studied
ADE of the upper Rio Negro and Novo-Airão (Sylvester-Bradley et al., 1980).
Additionally, 77% of the Amazonian Dark Earths sampled showed positive
incidence of Azospirillum spp. compared to only 10% of the Ferralsols. In a
secondary forest in Rio Preto da Eva, nodulation of vines was extensive, and the
 SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTION POTENTIAL 121

Figure 9: Available P and Ca contents of Amazonian Dark Earths throughout the Amazon
Basin; extraction method Mehlich-1 for available P (three samples with Bray-1, one with
citric acid) and KCl for exchangeable Ca contents; mainly single profiles obtained to
characterize a single ADE site (compiled from Smith (1980), Kern and Kämpf (1989), Kern
(1996), Glaser (1999), Lima (2001), Embrapa Rio de Janeiro (unpubl. data), N. Falcão
(unpubl. data), L. German (unpubl. data), J. McCann and W. Woods (unpubl. data), W.
Sombroek (unpubl. data); N=65).
122 AMAZONIAN DARK EARTHS

biomass of potentially nodulating woody plants significantly increased in

comparison to adjacent non-ADE sites (Gehring, 2003). However, foliar N contents
of the legume Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. (cowpea), were lower when grown on
ADE than on Ferralsol in a greenhouse study, indicating that if biological fixation
occurred at all in cowpea, it did not compensate for the lower N availability in the
Dark Earth (Lehmann et al., 2003b).

4. CONCLUSIONS
Despite important regional differences, some general properties with respect to
fertility are common to most Amazonian Dark Earths: high total P and Ca contents
and availability as well as often low N and K availability. The information compiled
in this chapter explains the extent and mechanisms of the high fertility of
Amazonian Dark Earths. However, the authors do not intend to advocate an
exploitation of the high fertility of Amazonian Dark Earths, but rather to document
the fertility potential of these special soils – highly weathered yet fertile – as well as
to understand the properties of such soils with enhanced fertility. Contemporary
efforts to develop sustainable landuse technologies should consider evidence
provided by ADE research, regardless of whether ADE were intentionally made or
not. Management to create fertile soils in the humid tropics has to consider the
importance of organically bound nutrients that show low leaching combined with
high availability similar to the properties shown here for Amazonian Dark Earths.

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