In the tropical drylands of Colombia, the soils subjected to traditional systems of livestock production are severely degraded and depleted of plant nutrients. Multistrata silvopastoral systems are viable alternatives to improve livestock production; however, it is unknown whether these systems can reduce the negative environmental impacts of traditional systems on soil quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of 13-year-old multistrata silvopastoral systems on soil quality parameters in degraded soils of the Sinu River Valley, Colombia. The results show that the trees in the silvopastoral systems increased or maintained soil pH values and nutrient availability (phosphorus, potassium, and calcium) with respect to the pastures with only grasses. The effects were significantly controlled by the types of plant species, particularly Guazuma ulmifolia and Cassia grandis. 1. Introduction Soil degradation is one of the major constraints in the tropics affecting 500 million ha [1], threatening ecosystem services and food security for people in developing countries [2]. The Caribbean region of Colombia is an unfortunately example of this situation because 80–100% of the grasslands exhibit soil erosion, soil compaction, and low soil nutrient availability for livestock systems [3–6]. The major cause is overgrazing and lack of proper management practices such as monoculture of Gramineae versus plant diversity, adequate fertilization, soil conservation practices, and reduced tillage [7–10]. Consequently, over time, these soils exhibit high level of compaction (2.2–4.2？MPa) and low levels of plant nutrients (e.g., phosphate: <10？mg？kg？1 and potassium: <0.11？cmolc？kg？1) that diminishes forage quality and availability, particularly in the long dry season [4, 6]. As a result of that, there is low animal carrying capacity (one animal per ha), low weight gain (<300？g day？1), late age for slaughter (30–36 months), and high cost of production (US$ 0.80？kg？1) [6, 8]. As an alternatives, silvopastoral systems can be successfully implemented because they can provide several benefits: animal comfort and productivity, litter supply, nutrient cycling, water infiltration, soil bulk density, soil fauna, and biodiversity [11–16]. Unfortunately, in the tropics, there are not sufficient data to support these claims on soil quality parameters [17–19] as it occurs in the temperate zone [20–22], which limits the widespread use of this strategy [23–25]. Our hypothesis in this study was that soil quality parameters (e.g., soil pH, soil organic matter, and plant
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