Large-scale rubber plantations have a major adverse effect on the ecological environment, particularly with respect to the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil, despite the enormous economic benefits of rubber growing. Rubber plantations significantly impact Soil, according to researchers from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), who examined how the conversion of rainforests to rubber plantations affected the ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C: N ratio) and soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC)—a mobile organic matter essential to carbon transformation in terrestrial ecosystems. Their findings were published in the Journal of Environmental Management.

Despite having a 38.5 percent lower SOC content, the researchers discovered that the DOC concentration in rubber plantations was 150–200 percent greater than in rainforests. Due to inadequate microbial utilization, DOC loss increased in rubber plantations with lower soil organic carbon (SOC) and nutrients. Mostly created by displacing natural rainforests, rubber plantations accounted for 22% of the region’s total land area, leaving only 3.6% of it covered by rainforests.

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Changes in Soil Biogeochemistry and Microbial Activity

The conversion of rainforests to rubber plantations significantly impact soil biogeochemistry, particularly microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN), which are crucial for nutrient cycling and organic matter breakdown. Rubber plantations’ decreased microbial activity hindered the soil’s capacity to use DOC, which led to a rise in DOC leaching. Rubber plantations exhibited lower pH, electrical conductivity, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and variations in DOC content. Higher DOC leaching and a reduced adsorption capacity of soils in rubber plantations compared to rainforests were linked to the changed carbon-nitrogen stoichiometry. The conversion of forest to rubber plantations dramatically decreased DOC, microbial carbon, total nitrogen, and magnesium pools by 24%, 35%, 13%, and 94%, respectively, according to different research (Yong Liu et al., June 2023).

Recommendations for Sustainable Soil Management

Researchers suggested increasing plant density and implementing nitrogen-fixing legume intercropping in rubber plantations to increase soil health and decrease DOC loss in order to mitigate the detrimental consequences of converting rainforests to rubber plantations. Because of the substantial soil degradation caused by the installation of rubber agroforestry in tropical Southeast Asia, sustainable management techniques such as legume intercropping are advised to lessen environmental effects and prevent DOC leaching.

Rubber intercropping with other crops has the potential to promote healthier soil biogeochemistry and lower carbon and nutrient losses, as seen by the average increases in DOC and MBC pools of 6% and 24%, respectively. Such practices aim to restore some of the soil’s original nutrient balance and limit the extent to which rubber plantations significantly impact soil quality.

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