mortiz085

By Dr. Luz Geneston Asio Department of Agronomy, Visayas State University The highlands in the middle of Cebu which extends from the city in the east to Balamban/Asturias in the west, presents a beautiful mixture of protected landscapes with good secondary forest cover, and crop production systems consisting of orchard particularly mango, annual crops, vegetables and cut flowers.  Beautiful views of the Cebu Highlands The very beautiful scenery reminds visitors of Baguio City or some foreign places like Indonesia or Taiwan. Clearly observable even on distant undulating slopes are the mango trees which are adapted to the agroclimatic conditions of Cebu.  Mango trees are abundant in certain parts of the landscape Cebuanos are widely known to be corn eaters. This explains why corn is the most widely grown grain crop in the highlands. On red acidic soils from igneous rocks as well as on dark calcareous soils from limestone, nutrient deficiency symptoms (N, P) are clearly observabl...

by Johannes R. G. Asio Institute of Tropical Ecology and Environmental Management (ITEEM),VSU, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines Introduction Dipterocarp trees ( Dipterocarpaceae ) have crucial ecological roles such as in the prevention of landslides, sequestration of atmospheric carbon, and biodiversity. They are also economically important in terms of timber production. These native trees are also adapted to a variety of climatic conditions and geographic locations (e.g. areas prone to heavy typhoons, marginal lands). However, the sustainable management of dipterocarp forests is still poorly understood due to the limited studies conducted on the subjet. This is particularly so in terms of the ability of these forest trees to thrive in marginal lands like those naturally contaminated with heavy metals and those soils with very low nutrient status such as ophiolitic and serpentinite areas (Corlett&Primack, 2006; DENR, 2012; Appanah, 1998; Walpole, 2010). Ophiolite rocks are widespre...

A tour around the northern tip of Luzon is really an amazing experience. For those interested in our natural environment, it is a must. This short report describes briefly some of the wonderful places that one can visit starting from Vigan City in the west (1) to Cagayan Valley in the east (10). Vigan City Vigan is an old city in Ilocos Sur with well-preserved Spanish colonial and Asian architecture. This UNESCO World Heritage site reminds me of some small towns in southern Spain. It is without question the most beautiful old city in the Philippines. The Paoay Sand Dunes The sand dunes area appears to be a raised sea bed. First evidence of this is the fact that it is directly adjacent to the sea. Second reason is the presence of shells of marine organisms in many parts of the area. Third, a road cut exposure east of the sand dunes reveals thick sandstones (formed under the sea) which could be the source, through weathering, of the sand particles. The subduction of the Sunda Plate under...

Tropical regions occur between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The tropics include approximately 40% of the land surface and is the largest ecozone of the earth. According to Köppen (1931), the tropics are characterized by an annual mean air temperature above 18°C through­out the whole year. The largest climatic variation is introduced by the variability of precipita­tion, reaching from nearly 0 mm in the Saharan and Atacama Desert to 11,700 mm on Mt. Waialeala in Hawaii (Eswaran et al., 1992). An Afisol (Luvisol) soil derived from mudstone in Eastern Samar, Philippines According to Uehara and Gillman  (1981), "t ropical soils" is a common name used to identify any soil that occurs in the tropics. They noted that like most common names, the term lacks precision, but it is more readily understood by a larger audience than are the scientific names. In contrast, Sanchez (1976) argued against the use of the term "tropical soils" since it does not accur...

Weathering is the alteration by chemical, mechanical, and biological processes of rocks and minerals at or near the Earth’s surface, in response to environmental conditions. Highly weathered soils (or strongly weathered soils) are soils that have undergone prolonged and intense weathering under the net leaching environment of the humid tropics. They are commonly found on stable and old geomorphic surfaces underlain by easily weatherable rocks such as ultrabasic and basic rocks as well as by pre-weathered sediments (Beinroth, 1982). These soils are clayey, deep, reddish, acidic, and have low nutrient status. According to Jackson et al. (1948), highly weathered soils are characterized by weathering stages of 10 to 12 wherein the clay fraction is dominated by 1:1 phyllosilicates (kaolinite & halloysite), aluminum oxide (gibbsite), and iron oxides (goethite and hematite). This mineralogical characteristic is also predicted by the “residua hypothesis” of Chesworth (1973) which states th...