Soil properties on a chronosequence of landslides in montane rain forest, Ecuador

To assess the impact of landslides on soil fertility in south Ecuador, we compared the properties of shallow translational debris slides with those of adjacent undisturbed soils. A chronosequence of four small landslides, ca. 0.5, ca. 2-3, ca. 8-10, and ca. 20 years old, was selected on a 30-50degrees, forest-covered, east-facing slope of the eastern cordillera at 1900-2300 m above sea level (a.s.l.). All soils were Dystric Cambisols. The mean mass of the soil organic layer (sum of all 0 horizons) increased in the order landslide head (46 t ha(-1))