GLOMALIN, CARBON, NITROGEN AND SOIL AGGREGATE STABILITY AS AFFECTED BY LAND USE CHANGES IN THE HUMID FOREST ZONE IN SOUTH CAMEROON

Arbuscular mycorhizal fungi (AMF) produce a glycoprotein (glomalin) important for soil structure, fertility and therefore plant nutrition which can be used to evaluate the impact of agricultural practices on soil quality across many land use systems. In the present study, its influence was investigated on soil fertility and aggregation in 3 different land use systems of the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon. Soils were sampled at 10 cm depth from 03 native forest, 03 fallow and 03 continuous growing fields systems at Metet (South Cameroon) for the determination of easily extractable glomalin (EEG), total glomalin (TG), carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and soil water stable aggregate of 1-2 mm diameter (WSA[sub 1-2mm]). The results highlight the view that glomalin can be used as an indicator of soil fertility in this region and should be consider as a criteria when define agricultural management strategies.