How Do Agricultural Practices Modify Soil Nutrient Dynamics in CCB?

Abstract

Increasing crop production to satisfy food demand of the growing population is one of the greatest challenges that we currently face. This has increased the rate at which natural ecosystems are transformed into agricultural systems. These land use changes, which are accompanied by agricultural practices such as the use of agrochemicals (pesticides and fertilizers), tillage, and irrigation, can lead to ecosystem degradation. Nationally, the state of Coahuila ranks seventh in production of alfalfa (1, 742,149 Mg), which is primarily used to feed the livestock in the country’s largest milk-producing area, Comarca Lagunera in Torreón. The alfalfa produced at Cuatro Cienegas Basin (CCB) is transported to this region, therefore, effectively exporting the wetland water and threatening CCBs’ sustainability.

For more than 10 years, our research group has been studying soil nutrient dynamics and soil bacterial biodiversity in CCB. Analysis of key soil attributes has allowed us to evaluate the drastic changes caused by land use change (native grassland into agricultural land) and to identify the soil processes that are vulnerable to management and, therefore, the factors that modify nutrient availability for the biota and how these factors could increase soil degradation. Our findings can serve as the basis for implementation of land remediation practices in CCB, and the set of soil attributes and variables used in our studies may also be extrapolated to different ecosystems for the same purpose.