The study was conducted at the Experimental Station "José Haroldo" of CEPLAC, Benevides, PA, to determine changes in chemical properties of a Yellow Latosol, medium texture, under different land cover systems. Samples were collected from the Ap, AB, BA, B21 horizons of the soil under a 40-year old secondary forest (FS), recent slash and burned secondary forest (DQ), cocoa cropping (CC) and degraded grassland (PA). Soil samples were analyzed for pH, organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P) and exchangeable bases (K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+). Relationships among the soil chemical properties were determined by regression analysis. Results showed that available P, SOC and total N decreased with soil depth in all management systems. Highest values of available P, SOC and total N were found in the Ap horizon following the sequence cocoa > grassland > secondary forest. There was significant correlation between pH and SOC, and between SOC and soil N, and available P.
Land use; tropical soil; Amazon Basin
