Soil fertility characterisation of teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) plantations in Central America Jesús Fernández-Moya A,B,E , Alfredo Alvarado B , Rafael Mata B , Helga Thiele B , Jose Manuel Segura C , Edwin Vaides C , Alfonso San Miguel-Ayanz A , and Miguel Marchamalo-Sacristán D A Dpto. Silvopascicultura. E.T.S.I. Montes, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Ciudad Universitaria s/n. 28040 Madrid, Spain. B Centro de Investigaciones Agronómicas, University of Costa Rica (CIA-UCR), Costa Rica. C Green Millennium Company, Guatemala. D Dpto. Ingeniería y Morfología del Terreno, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Ciudad Universitaria s/n. 28040 Madrid, Spain. E Corresponding author. Email: jesusfmoya@gmail.com Abstract. Teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) is an important species in the worldwide quality tropical hardwood sector, which has gained significance in Central America since the first large plantations were established in the 1980s. The present work is a descriptive study that aims to: (1) analyse and characterise the general soil patterns which may be influencing teak plantations in Central America; (2) assess differences between countries and sub-regions; (3) create a global framework to help contextualise the soil fertility analyses conducted at sub-regional or farm level, and (4) determine the main problems associated with soil fertility in the region. Soil fertility was measured at 684 sites in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama. Although teak is considered to be a species with high soil nutrient requirements, and high fertility is usually assumed in teak plantations, the results show that this species has been planted in a wide variety of soils, including many with serious fertility problems (e.g. Ultisols and perhaps Oxisols) or with added difficulties due to their physical properties (e.g. Vertisols). The present analysis reveals a general K deficiency in the Central American teak plantations, where P deficiency and acidity toxicity are also relatively common problems. These soil fertility problems probably stem from poor site selection by forest managers in the 80s and 90s. Hence, although soil fertility is carefully evaluated when most teak plantations are established today, managers have to deal with soil fertility deficiencies in many sites where teak was established some years ago. Additional keywords: forest nutrition, forest plantations, forest soils, planted forests, site selection, tropical soils. Received 11 September 2014, accepted 29 January 2015, published online 30 June 2015 Introduction Teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) is an important species in the worldwide quality tropical hardwood sector, with a total planted area of 4.3 10 6 ha (Pandey and Brown 2000; De Camino et al. 2002; Kumar 2011; Kollert and Cherubini 2012). Teak has been extensively planted in Central America (132770 ha), mainly in Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala (55000; 31500 and 28000 ha; respectively) and it has also been introduced in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and Belise (9760; 7960; 450 and 100 ha, respectively) (Kollert and Cherubini 2012). Despite the relatively minor importance of Central American plantations in the worldwide teak sector, teak plantations have had quite far-reaching socioeconomic and environmental effects in Central America due to the small size of the countries. Panama is the third in terms of area dedicated to teak plantation relative to the size of the country, while Costa Rica is the fifth and El Salvador, the ninth (Kollert and Cherubini 2012). Arias (2004) highlighted the fact that forest plantations (especially teak plantations) established by large or medium-sized companies not only provide environmental services, but also play an important role in the sustainable development of countries like Costa Rica, creating employment in rural areas where few other job opportunities exist. In addition, many small landowners have also planted teak across the region, and usually manage their plantations as a complementary crop alongside other land uses within their farms. Nieuwenhuyse et al.(2000) estimate that around 70% of the landscape should be covered by teak plantations in order to maximise the regional income of their study area in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica. These authors report that the production of a valuable timber species, such as teak, is more profitable than fast-growing low-quality wood species, such as Gmelina arborea, or other land uses, such as basic grain and Journal compilation Ó CSIRO 2015 www.publish.csiro.au/journals/sr CSIRO PUBLISHING Soil Research, 2015, 53, 423–432 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/SR14256