Abstract
This study sought to determine the effects of forest type on soil properties. Two forest types were evergreen broad-leaved forest and pine plantation. The level of organic C and total N were similar in the mineral soil under both forest types. The surface mineral soil (A and/or AB horizons) under pine plantation had high pH, high exchangeable Ca^<2+>, low exchangeable Al^<3+> and available P compared to evergreen broad-leaved forest. No differences occurred for exchangeable K^<+> and Na^<+> between both forest types. Exchangeable K^<+>, Ca^<2+>, and Mn^<2+> showed a steep decrease with depth, while Al^<3+> and Na^<+> exhibited little change in both forests. Soil pH increased with depth under evergreen broad-leaved forest, but kept constant under pine plantation. Also, evergreen broad-leaved forest had lower bulk density, and higher total porosity in surface soil horizons than pine plantation. However, there were no differences for physical and chemical properties of lower soil horizons (B2 horizons) between both forest types. The cluster analysis indicated that the differences in surface soil horizons between the two forest types were contributed to the effects of different forest composition.
