Some physical, chemical and microbiological properties of an agricultural soil in Darien, Republic of Panama

For any study of soils it is always necessary a previous profile description, in which one observes their morphology and they are presented a series of estates that they are the result of the soil and the antropogenic influence formation. Taking in consideration this premise, it was carried out the soil profile description in a farm of Yaviza, Panama, and to determine some of their physical, chemical and microbiological properties. The soil was classified as Vertic Gleysol, due to the found diagnosis characteristics: gleyic properties to less than 50 cm of depth and vertic properties, the soil have clayey texture, it was not compacted and the content of organic matter and the organic carbon reserve of the soil were low. The pH was acid in the whole profile, however, the effective capacity of cationic exchange oscillated between high and half, with prevalence of the ions [Ca.sup.2+] and [Mg.sup.2+] and a high saturation percentage of bases. Except the relationship Ca/Mg that was normal, the other ones internutrients relate were outside of range. Microelement concentrations and changeable aluminum were low in the whole profile. When analyzing the relative abundance of microorganisms it was found that the most abundant phylum were Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Acidobacteria, all of the domain Bacteria and of the Kingdom Fungi the prevalence of the phylum Ascomycota was observed, followed by Basidiomycota and Rozellomycota. It is necessary to correct the imbalance between the nutrients and check the evolution of these estates during the agricultural exploitation of the area in study. Key words: Gleysol, morphological characteristics, fertility, soil microorganisms