Increasing cultivation on acid soils of Colombia’s Eastern High Plains in the
Orinoquia region require crop management strategies that balance commercial
and environmental interests. Previous research showed the effects of land
preparation and management on certain aspects of ecosystem services of these
acid soils. This research aimed to comprehensively evaluate the impact of use and
soil management in a native savanna Oxisol converted to five production systems
gaining traction among local farmers: Annual crops rotation–sugarcane (ACR-S);
Annual crops rotation-maize-soybean (ACR-MS); Sugarcane monocrop (SM);
Rubber associated with Desmodium ovalifollium (R-Do) as a cover crop;
Pasture Brachiaria decumbens - Annual crops rotation (PBd-ACR) and native
savanna (NS) as a control. The experimental design consisted of conditioning
the soil with two doses of dolomitic lime and incorporating three tillage methods
over 5 years. A Principal Components Analysis (PCA) constructed indicators of
ecosystem services (ES), such as fertility, water regulation, macroinvertebrate
diversity, climate control related to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and
carbon stock. The indicator values were adjusted between 0.10 and 1.0.
Physicochemical variables with the greatest statistical weight were identified for
components 1 and 2 each year. The fertility indicator of the native savanna for year
one had a low range with a value of 0.11 compared to the other systems (p ≤ 0.05).
During the years two, three, and four, soil fertility increased in the PBd-ACR (0.51)
production system compared to the other systems. PBd-ACR generally improved
water supply, although with lower indicator values than ACR-MS and R-Do. PBd-
ACR show high biodiversity for edaphic macroinvertebrates compared to other
systems. Field measurements detected methane emissions only in the SM system.
Oxisols changed with the introduction of crops. The positive and negative tradeoffs
of production systems and their agronomic practices should be considered in
agricultural development of these acid soils.