ABSTRACT
Soils play an important role in the carbon (C) cycle of the earth because they are a major location of C storage in terrestrial ecosystems. The chapter summarizes the findings of changes to soils following forest clearing and pasture creation at Fazenda Nova Vida in the western Amazon Basin state of Rondonia. The following factors were considered following deforestation and pasture planting: changes to soil chemical and physical characteristics, changes to soil C concentrations and stocks, changes to the origin of soil C in different organic fractions, and changes to the quality of soil organic carbon. Carbon stocks in the top 50 cm were variable but increased with time under pasture. All the pastures sampled had higher C stocks than the forest. In one chronosequence, the oldest 41- and 81-year-old pastures had significantly higher C stocks than the forest. Accurate measures of changes to soil bulk density are critical to accurate determination of soil C stocks after forest clearing.
