LAUSR

This paper examines soil temperature ( T s ) in two different plantation forests relative to an adjacent open land area in a tropical highland environment. To achieve the objectives, T s in a Juniperus procera (JP) plantation, a Grevillea robusta (GR) plantation, and in the adjacent open land (OL) area were measured. One-way ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation were used for the data analysis. The result indicated that the mean daily T s in the OL area at 10-cm depth of the soil was greater than the mean daily T s recorded in the JP and GR plantations by 5 °C and 6 °C, respectively. The OL area T s recorded at different soil depths (10 cm and 20 cm) was significantly different ( p < 0.05). Rainfall (RF) and air temperature ( T a ) of the study area have a direct relationship with the T s in the plantation forests. The RF and T a do not have a significant relationship with the T s in the OL area at 10-cm soil depth. Overall, the study indicated that the T s in the open land area was highly fluctuating monotonically, while it is relatively constant in the plantation forests.