To analyze the process of degradation caused by natural or anthropogenic influences tools are required, preferentially low-cost, to indicate the degradation stages aiming the selection of techniques to reclaim degraded areas. The purpose of this study was to analyze the variability of microbiological and chemical soil properties as indicators of desertification processes in areas with increasing levels of degradation in the semiarid region of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. Three environments were sampled: conserved, moderately degraded and heavily degraded in […]

Agriculture and soil management in the Cerrado can cause soil compaction, resulting in decreased porosity and water and nutrient availability, with a negative impact on plant growth and development. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of soil density and phosphorus doses (P) on soybean and eucalyptus grown in two Cerrado oxisols with different texture: one (LV) with 610 g kg-1 clay and the other (LVA), with 190 g kg-1 clay. Three soil densities (0. 90, 1. 10 and 1. 30 Mg m-3) […]

Knowledge on chemical and physical soil properties provides the theoretical basis for a sustainable planning of natural resources. This study evaluated the alteration of chemical and physical soil characteristics in a Haplustox in the Zona da Mata region of the State of Minas Gerais (Brazil), under different crop systems. The systems evaluated were orange orchards, sugar-cane plantation, pasture and forest, as control. Orange orchards and pasture had been established more than 20 years before, both in succession to sugar-cane, previously […]

The sustainable use of pasture systems depends mainly on a management that promotes soil quality. This study aimed to evaluate changes in the physical and chemical soil properties of four areas under pasture growing the species Andropogon gayanus, Brachiaria decumbens and Brachiaria brizantha, cv. marandu, with different usage histories, in comparison to the reference of the natural Cerrado. The soil was evaluated based on the following properties: cation exchange capacity, soil organic matter, bulk density, porosity and soil mechanical penetration […]

Land degradation in semiarid regions is a result of natural processes that can be induced or intensified by man through the inadequate use of natural resources, resulting in the degradation of vegetation, soil and water resources. Aiming to relate vegetation and soil degradation processes in the Agreste region of Pernambuco State, soil and vegetation in twelve representative plots were characterized as preserved, moderately degraded and degraded environments in the municipality of Jataúba. To study the vegetation, plants were stratified in […]

This study analyzed legal aspects concerning the invasion of permanent preservation areas by sand mining. A sand mine in the middle Iguaçu river, more exactly in the region of the county of União da Vitória, state of Paraná, was chosen as study case. In this region there is a concentration of mining companies that had been under investigation on behalf of the Ministry for Environment. The invasion of APPs (permanent preservation areas) occurs in all “areais” (sand depositions) in the […]

The intensive traffic of agricultural machines on soils used for hay production can result in soil quality degradation. The hypothesis evaluated was that systems of intensive hay production cause soil physical degradation. The objective of this study was to quantify the soil physical properties and morphological attributes to recognize and identify the soil physical degradation of a Red Latosol (Typic Haplorthox) cropped with Tifton 85 forage (Cynodon spp) for hay production, in western Paraná state, southern Brazil. A native forest […]

The understanding and quantification of the impact caused by soil use and management on the physical soil quality are fundamental for the development of sustainable agricultural systems. The objective of this research was to quantify some physical soil properties to evaluate the physical quality of a dystrophic Red Latosol (Rhodic Ferralsol) in the northwest of the State of Paraná, Brazil. Undisturbed soil samples were collected from two contiguous areas on an Experimental Farm of the State University of Maringá. One […]

Although widely reported, studies on chemical forms and concentrations of heavy metals in polluted soils and their effects upon ecosystems are still not much emphasized in the tropics. The present study was developed in a waste area of a zinc processing industry owned by the Companhia Mineira de Metais-CMM at Três Marias (MG), Brazil, to evaluate heavy metal quantities and forms in seven representative sites, selected according to differences in form of contamination, pedological aspects, topography and current vegetation status. […]

A soybean trial using a sample of Dark-Red distrophic medium texture Latosol was carried out under greenhouse conditions at the Escola Superior de Agricultura ‘Luiz de Queiroz’ in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil, from December 1993 to July 1994, to evalvate the effects of subsurface compaction and the application of gypsum on nitrogen and phosphorus levels of soybean shoots. A scheme in a bloc randonized desdign, with treatments arranged in a 4 x 4 factorial, with four replications, corresponding to the soil surface […]