Volume 31, Number 1, 2007

The daily water consumption of a wheat culture was quantified on an Oxisoil using atmospheric and soil data measured automatically on an experimental farm in Ponta Grossa, Paraná, Brazil. The measurement period was August through December 2003. The rain contribution to soil moisture and the vertical upward movement of water within the soil were particularly emphasized. Our results show that in the evaluated period (a) wheat evapotranspiration amounted to 6.75 mm a day, to which upward water flux contributed with 62 %; […]

The objective of this report was to verify the form of vertical and horizontal spatialization of chemical, physical and water quality indicators of a Typic Haplortox cultivated with citrus. The ‘Valencia’ orange grove on ‘Rangpur’ lime was planted in 1995, in the county of Alto Paraná, northwestern Paraná, Brazil. In August 2002, undisturbed and disturbed samples were collected for chemical, physical and water analysis. Twenty-four transects were sampled perpendicular to the tree trunk, in two layers (0-0.20 and 0.20-0.40 m depth) […]

Lowland soils are seasonally flooded for rice cultivation and undergo alternate oxidation and reduction conditions, which modify the soil solid mineral phase and the dynamics of highly reactive elements such as phosphorus. Low-crystallinity forms of iron oxides and hydroxides become predominant with time. They could be the most important components in phosphorus adsorption during dry periods, and could control phosphorus release after flooding. The objective of this study was to evaluate the maximum phosphorus adsorption capacity (MPAC) of some lowland […]

In most organisms, the synthesis of heat shock proteins is a transient physiological change in the cell exposed to supra-optimal temperatures. The physiological response to heat shock is particularly dependent on the cell type and on the capacity of the organisms to respond to environmental alterations. In this study the mycelial growth and synthesis of heat shock proteins of two Pisolithus isolates (RV82 and RS24) and one Paxillus involutus isolate to supra-optimal temperatures was evaluated. Mycelial growth was evaluated under […]

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important cash crop in the semi-arid region of Paraíba, Brazil. However, potato productivity is limited by low soil fertility and the limited and highly variable precipitation pattern of this region. Animal manure is the main nutrient source for soil fertility amelioration, but farm manure available is usually not enough to fertilize crops. A cover crop could decrease the demand for animal manure. The characteristics of Crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea L.) recommend it as green manure. […]

Soil fertility levels in the Agreste region, state of Paraíba, Brazil are generally low. Usually, animal manure is applied to soils to supply agricultural crops with nutrients. However, depending on the quality of the manure applied, incorporation can lead to soil nitrogen immobilization in the beginning of the growing season. It was hypothesized that planting and incorporating crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea) together with animal manure could synchronize the nutrient mineralization pattern more specifically with crop demand. In 2003, field and green-house […]

Several studies pointed out the promising use of nutritional diagnosis methods for the determination of optimum nutrient contents and critical levels in plant tissues. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the optimum nutrient content for soybean, estimated by the Mathematical Chance (ChM), Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) and Compositional Nutrient Diagnosis (CND) methods. The optimum nutrient contents estimated by DRIS and CND where identical to the mean content in the reference population. Apart from the nutrients […]

Research on B availability in soils is essential to assess the crops response to different concentrations of available B in soils. A greenhouse experiment was carried out aiming at studying the corn plant (Zea mays) response to B doses (0, 2, 4, 6, and 12 mg dm-3) applied to ten soils from the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Available B was assessed by three extractants: hot water, HCl 0.05 mol L-1, and Mehlich-1. The critical and toxic levels were determined in soils and plants. Additionally, […]

Surface liming efficiency can be increased through water-soluble organic compounds released by plant residues. However, it is unknown if the contents of these compounds in crop residues can be modified by lime and phosphogypsum surface applications. The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of lime and phosphogypsum surface applications on the content of water-soluble cations in crop residues of rice, common bean and black oat. The experiment was carried out on a Haplorthox located in Botucatu County, São […]

The northwestern region of Mato Grosso State consists of complex landscapes due to ongoing geomorphologic activity that contributes to the occurrence of different soil classes over small distances, which complicates soil sampling strategies. This study was conducted in Juruena (MT), with the objective of identifying pedologic classes in undisturbed forested headwater catchments by examining the spatial variability of soil texture and color, and taking elevation and topographic position into consideration. The spatial variability of soil texture and color were determined […]