Fertility and heavy metal contents of soils in the tropical agroecosys­tems of the Dominican Republic-Haiti frontier zone

Abstract

This paper reports fertility, organic matter and heavy metal data obtained in topsoil samples from 30 tropical agroecosystems in three types of forest (rain, latifoliated and dry) in an area of extreme poverty (SE Do­minican Republic-Haiti). For sustainable ag­ricultural practice in this zone, soil fertility needs to be first assessed since this factor has been severely compromised by changes in the physical and chemical properties of the soil induced by the felling and burning of trees to make way for crops. Information on the soils of the region is practically null. This study focuses mainly on the transfrontier basin of the Pedernales River.

The agroecosystems examined occur from an altitude of 1200 m to sea level and are the main food sources for human and animal consumption: bean, corn, sorghum, coffee, Guinea banana, fruit trees and tu­bers.