ABSTRACT Providing nutrients in optimum quantities is essential for increasing the productivity of timber species. Despite this, we know little about the actual potassium (K) requirements of native Amazonian Forest species. This study aimed to determine the critical level of K deficiency and toxicity for the initial cultivation of cedar. We grew Cedrela fissilis seedlings in a nutrient solution under the effect of five concentrations of K (0, 1, 2, 5, and 8 mmol L-1) in a completely randomized design […]

ABSTRACT Pork is the most consumed animal protein around the world. The production levels are significant, which results in the generation of large amounts of slaughter waste. Such waste is often disposed of improperly in agricultural areas, causing environmental imbalance by the contamination of soil and water sources with metals and pathogenic organisms. This study evaluates the phytotoxic effects of pig slaughterhouse waste in natura and after stabilization processes on lettuce (Lactuca sativa Linnaeus, 1753), radish (Raphanus sativus Linnaeus, 1753), […]

ABSTRACT Chemical speciation of the soil solution is an important tool to identify Al species related to phytotoxicity. In some Brazilian acid soils, the Al extractable by the KCl 1.0 mol L -1 solution (Al-KCl) exceeds 10 cmol c kg -1 and even then, in some situations, it does not cause toxicity to the plants. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between these high concentrations of Al-KCl found in some Brazilian acid soils and the activity of the different […]

Arsenic has been considered the most poisonous inorganic soil pollutant to living creatures. For this reason, the interest in phytoremediation species has been increasing in the last years. Particularly for the State of Minas Gerais, where areas of former mining activities are prone to the occurrence of acid drainage, the demand is great for suitable species to be used in the revegetation and “cleaning” of As-polluted areas. This study was carried out to evaluate the potential of seedlings of Eucalyptus […]

The use of plants for phytoremediation of metal-contaminated areas is an emerging technology, and studies concerning heavy metal tolerance, absorption and distribution in plants are essential for the success of such programs. This study was carried out to evaluate the tolerance, absorption and distribution of lead (Pb) in vetiver grass [Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash], mimosa [Desmanthus virgatus (L.) Willd] and mesquite trees [Prosopis juliflora (SW) DC] subjected to increasing lead doses in solution. The experiment was conducted under a screenhouse, […]

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhiza, the plant P nutritional status and increasing levels of P in nutrient solution on Zn toxicity to Trema micrantha (L.) Blum. In a first experiment trema seedlings were grown in a substrate with increasing P rates [0, 100, 200 and 400 mg dm-3 as Ca(H2PO4)2], besides a mycorrhizal treatment inoculated with Glomus etunicatum (Ge). After 60 days of growth, the plants were transferred to pots with Clark’s nutrient solution […]

The behavior of glyphosate in a Rhodic Oxisol, collected from fields under no-till and conventional management systems in Ponta Grossa, Parana state (Brazil) was investigated. Both agricultural systems had been in production for 23 years. Glyphosate mineralization, soil-bound forms, sorption and desorption kinetics, sorption/desorption batch experiments, and soil glyphosate phythoavailability (to Panicum maximum) were determined. The mineralization experiment was set up in a completely randomized design with a 2 x 2 factorial scheme (two management systems and two 14C radiolabelled positions in the […]

One of the great challenges in environmental research today is to find tolerant species of plants and microsymbionts to make viable the revegetation of contaminated areas with heavy metals. This experiment was carried out under greenhouse conditions at the Soil Science Department of the Federal University of Lavras (MG), from August to December 1998, to assess the tolerance to heavy metals and the capacity to establish rhizobia symbiosis with Enterolobium contortisiliquum (tamboril), Acacia mangium (acacia) and Sesbania virgata (sesbânia) in […]

The excess of heavy metals contaminating soils is responsible for a negative impact on microorganisms and toxicity on plants, hence turning revegetation and rehabilitation of areas degraded by these metals very difficult. In the present study, the effects of the isoflavonoid formononetin (7 hydroxy 4’methoxy isoflavona) on growth and metal uptake by corn (Zea mays L.) were studied in soil-mixes with increasing proportions of a contaminated soil with 16.904; 194; 219 and 836 mg dm-3 of soil of Zn, Cd, […]