Abstract

This paper highlights the salient features of differences in soil properties among evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous and dry deciduous forests located within a radious of 8 km in the western half of Attappady. Since Attappady is a relic of earlier vegetal luxuriance, these differences reflect changes over time. Analyses of particle-size separates, pH, organic carbon, exchange acidity and exchangeable bases were done on samples collected from different layers. Parallel to alterations in the vegetation, changes in soil properties are evident. Acidity decreases and conversely exchangeable bases increase markedly as one moves from evergreen to dry deciduous. Also, anthropic disturbances enhance changes in soil properties