Soil Chemical Analysis of Secondary Forest 30 Years after Logging Activities at Krau Wildlife Reserve, Pahang, Malaysia

Lack of management in secondary forest is significantly reducing the recovery process of nutrients especially on the top soil. Based on these facts, the soil texture and soil nutrients in secondary forest are important to be studied. The total of 50 soil samples was collected from different plots at 0-15 cm in depth and were analysed in the laboratory. The result shows that the soil of Krau Wildlife Reserve (KWR) is predominated by sandy loam type, soil pH range from strong acidic to slight acidic whereas the compaction range from moderate to serve. The mean of total carbon (C), Nitrogen (N) and CN ratio and phosphorus (P) are lower; however, the Exchangeable Cation (EC) are higher than what other studies found in secondary forest in peninsular Malaysia. Statistical correlation analysis found that the different percentage of sand, silt and clay particles significantly influenced the soil nutrients. Following the criteria of tropical soil quality index, the soil nutrients of KWR 30 years after logging activities is still low.