Impact of enrichment planting activity on soil physico-chemical properties of degraded forestland

Forest replanting activities were considered the best way to restore the degraded forestland to its initial state. Enrichment planting, a mix species planting technique is believed to be able to restore the degraded forest soil fertility. However, the study on the impact of enrichment planting on degraded forestland still lacking. Hence, a study was carried out at the enrichment planting and secondary forest plots of Compartment 13, Tapah Hill Forest Reserve, Perak, Malaysia, to evaluate on soil physico-chemical properties and soil quality index (SQI) for both plots. Results showed that enrichment planting sites had significantly higher (p<0.05) clay fraction, bulk density, porosity, acidity , total carbon, total nitrogen, organic matter and exchangeable magnesium compared to those of secondary forest at 0-15 cm depth. However, exchangeable potassium was lower (p<0.05) and exchangeable aluminium was higher (p