Forest and Pasture Soil and Grass Analyses in Rondonia, Brazil

From 2003 to 2004, this dataset provides soil and foliar nutrient measurements from 17 cattle ranches and nearby primary forest sites in the state of Rondonia, southwestern Brazilian Amazon. Soil data includes bulk density, class, texture, and concentrations of carbon, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Grass nutrient data covers nitrogen and the same elements across three phenologically distinct grass materials sampled in wet and dry seasons.

Use Cases

• Comparing soil nutrient stocks between primary forest and converted pasture based on soil order and season.
• Analyzing foliar nutrient concentrations in pasture grasses across wet and dry seasons.
• Assessing the relationship between soil physical properties (e.g., bulk density, texture) and chemical nutrient availability.
• Modeling nutrient cycling and soil carbon dynamics in Amazonian cattle ranching systems.

Strengths

• Includes data from 17 distinct pasture sites and nearby primary forest controls for baseline comparison.
• Covers multiple sampling seasons (late rainy season and dry season) across 2003 and 2004, allowing for temporal analysis.
• Samples represent three major soil orders (Oxisols, Ultisols, Alfisols) and multiple grass species common to the region.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file sizes, and specific column names are unavailable from the provided sources.
• Conflicting last-updated dates exist between platforms (2004-05-31 on nasa_earthdata vs. 2026-04-10 on datagov), suggesting potential metadata inconsistencies.
• The license is specified only as 'other-license-specified' without further detail.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Field sampling of soil and grass from selected cattle ranches and primary forest sites.

Time Range

2003-2004

Freshness

2026-04-10 (from datagov, though this may be a metadata update; primary data is from 2003-2004)

Geography

State of Rondonia, southwestern Brazilian Amazon, specifically the region between Porto Velho and Presidente Medici.