The substitution of the native vegetation of marshlands in Paraiba, initially by sugarcane and more recently by pastures, in a strongly undulated relief, has caused serious problems of soil degradation. Currently, some of these pastures are being replaced by plantations of sabiá (Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia Benth). The objective was to analyze the effect of these changes on the soil physical and chemical properties and root development. The experiment was conducted in Areia-PB, in a dystrophic Ultisol. The three treatments were represented […]

The Archaeological Dark Earth (ADE) soils are characterized by its high fertility, dark color, and presence of pottery fragments. Regarding the formation of ADE, the most widely accepted hypothesis is that anthropogenic processes involving pre-Columbian populations made them. The purpose of this study is to characterize ADE units located in the Southern Amazon Region, in the cities of Apuí and Manicoré. Seven ADE sites were selected, trenches opened and the soil profiles characterized morphologically. Then, samples of each horizon were […]

Soil management practices which increase the root depth penetration of citrus are important to the longevity and yield maintenance of this plant, especially in regions where long periods of drought are common, even in soil conventionally subsoiled to a depth of 30-40 cm, when the orchard was first established. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of subsoiling on the physical and hydric properties of a Typical Hapludult and fruit yield in a 14-year-old citrus orchard located […]

Due to the difficulty of estimating water percolation in unsaturated soils, the purpose of this study was to estimate water percolation based on time-domain reflectometry (TDR). In two drainage lysimeters with different soil textures TDR probes were installed, forming a water monitoring system consisting of different numbers of probes. The soils were saturated and covered with plastic to prevent evaporation. Tests of internal drainage were carried out using a TDR 100 unit with constant dielectric readings (every 15 min). To […]

Where the level of agricultural technology is higher, common bean cultivars with a higher yield potential possibly require greater amounts of micronutrients. In Brazil however, there is a lack of information about the micronutrient extraction and exportation by the main grown cultivars. The objective of this study was to evaluate micronutrient (B, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) extraction and exportation by common bean cultivars Pérola and IAC Alvorada, under different levels of NPK fertilization, on a dystroferric Red Nitosol, in […]

Erosion has been recognized as the main cause of soil degradation and is accelerated by human intervention in watersheds, causing losses to the agricultural sector and damaging the environment. To estimate the impacts caused by land use or climate changes on hydrosedimentological processes, physically-based distributed models have been shown to be quite effective. In this study, the SWAT model was calibrated and validated for two subwatersheds of the Japaratuba Mirim river watershed, one located upstream of the Fazenda Pão de […]

The occupation and territorial dispersion of the first settlers in South America, especially in Brazil, are still little known and require continuous interdisciplinary studies involving anthropology, archeology, and soil science. Under natural limestone shelters, pre-Columbian populations lived for thousands of years, introducing and removing materials of different nature and from different origins, resulting in the development of very peculiar anthropogenic soils, which have been little investigated so far. To deepen the knowledge on this type of soil, we evaluated the […]

Digital soil mapping allows predicting patterns of soil classes on the basis of well-known reference areas and of data mining techniques to model soil-landscape relationships. The purpose of this study was to (1) generate a digital pedological map using data mining techniques to associate geomorphometric and geology variables with soil classes of traditional soil maps in reference areas and (2) validate these maps by different field techniques. The mapping was carried out using the 1:50.000 Botucatu sheet (SF-22-Z-B-VI-3), and 1:50.000 […]

Large areas of Plinthosols with ferruginous materials such as plinthite and/or petroplinthite are fairly common in the Brazilian Amazon basin. This work was carried out to investigate the chemical behavior, mineralogical composition and weathering stage of four representative soil profiles with plinthite and petroplinthite, in Iranduba, AM (Central Amazon). Three well-drained soil profiles at high elevations were studied (P1, Plinthic Vetic Ferralsol; P2 and P3, Vetic Endopetric Plinthosol) and a contrasting poorly drained soil (P4 Haplic Plinthosol), located at low […]

Efficient analytical methods for the quantification of plant-available Zn contained in mineral fertilizers and industrial by-products are fundamental for the control and marketing of these inputs. In this sense, there are some doubts on the part of the scientific community as well as of the fertilizer production sector, whether the extractor requested by the government (Normative Instruction No. 28, called 2nd extractor), which is citric acid 2 % (2 % CA) (Brasil, 2007b), is effective in predicting the plant availability […]