Evaluación de la calidad del suelo mediante el uso de indicadores edáficos en las estercoleras de las vicuñas ubicadas en la reserva de producción de fauna Chimborazo

Abstract

The Chimborazo Fauna Production Reserve is home to a significant population of vicuñas that generate an abundant amount of localized manure; the inhabitants of the area have the perception that this can cause damage to the quality of the soil. This research aimed to evaluate the soil quality using edaphic indicators in the manure piles of the vicuñas of the Chimborazo Fauna Production Reserve. This study has a quantitative approach that considers different variables. In identifying the variables, the evaluation of soil quality using edaphic indicators has been considered dependent, while the vicuña manure heaps were mentioned as the independent variable. The location of the study is focused on the provinces of Chimborazo, Bolívar and Tungurahua in an area of 58,560 hectares in which a total of 2,700 species of vicuñas coexist. Two hundred manure pads were studied; in this way, 54 samples were taken in the three sectors of the reserve using a type of TSBF sampling. These were subjected to physical-chemical analysis, and their values were described using bar and box diagrams, interpreting the corresponding quartiles. The most important results include the physical properties of the soil (percentage of humidity, texture, and temperature), the chemical properties (acidity (pH), nutritive elements or macronutrients of the soil and electrical conductivity. It was concluded that the environmental factors studied have moderate to irrelevant impacts, both positive and negative; the use of vicuña manure in agricultural activities is also proposed as a viable and sustainable alternative.