Volume 37, Number 3, 2013

In the west and southwest regions of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) there are extensive areas with fragile soils developed from sandy sediments of the continental Mesozoic Paraná Basin. Inappropriate land use has accelerated the process of sandy desertification in these areas. In this case, the knowledge of soils is critical for the choice of appropriate management systems to regain sustainability. The objectives of this study were to understand the evolution and describe the relationships, in terms of origin, between […]

Lychnophora pohlii Sch. Bip. (Asteraceae), known as “Arnica mineira”, is widely used in folk medicine and very abundant in the altitude vegetation of rocky grassland. The aim of this work was to study the density of this species and its relationship with soil parameters in rocky grassland in Diamantina, in the Upper Jequitinhonha region, Minas Gerais. Ten contiguous 20 x 50 m plots were marked (total sampled area 10,000 m2) on the campus Juscelino Kubitschek of the Federal University of […]

Araucaria angustifolia (Bert.) O. Kuntze is the main component of the Mixed Ombrophilous forest and, in the State of São Paulo, it is associated with a high diversity of soil organisms, essential for the maintenance of soil quality, making the conservation of this ecosystem a major and pressing challenge. The objective of this study was to identify the physical and chemical properties that are most closely correlated with dehydrogenase enzyme activity, basal respiration and microbial biomass under native (NF) and […]

In the litter-soil compartment, soil fauna plays an important role in nutrient availability for plants, since it regulates the microbial community involved with organic matter decomposition and fragmentation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the richness and abundance of soil fauna as well as its vertical distribution on a periodically flooded sandbank area (“restinga”) in Marambaia Island – RJ, in two season (summer -rainy and winter- dry). Litter and soil was sampled (0-5 cm), from which fauna was […]

Field-based soil moisture measurements are cumbersome. Thus, remote sensing techniques are needed because allows field and landscape-scale mapping of soil moisture depth-averaged through the root zone of existing vegetation. The objective of the study was to evaluate the accuracy of an empirical relationship to calculate soil moisture from remote sensing data of irrigated soils of the Apodi Plateau, in the Brazilian semiarid region. The empirical relationship had previously been tested for irrigated soils in Mexico, Egypt, and Pakistan, with promising […]

The structure change caused by soil compaction is a limiting factor to growth and development of plants. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical parameters of an Eutrophic Oxisol in Jaboticabal, SP. Aggregate stability, hydraulic conductivity and “S” index were evaluated in a completely randomized split-plot (four levels of compaction and two depth), with four replications and an area of native forest (NF) as control. The compaction treatments consisted of C0 = 0, C1 = 2, C2= […]

It has been found that the results of the land use and management techniques adopted for soils derived from Caiuá sandstone in the Northwest of Paraná are not always satisfactory in terms of crop yields. In this region, sandstone occurs in two forms: the Caiuá and Paranavaí Formations, with differences in soil particle size. We hypothesized that the water retention and availability for agricultural production is lower in the Caiuá soils, due to the higher proportion of coarse sand than […]

The determination of the nitrogen (N) mineralization rate in waste-treated soils is important to calculate the residue rates to be applied, supplying plants with mineral N to at the appropriate time, without leaching losses. Most studies on residue-treated soils use the technique without leaching of mineral forms and the volumetric determination method. The repeatability of the test is however poor and the sensitivity of the determination method low, especially in soils amended with sewage sludge and organic compost. In this […]

The analysis of redox potential and other associated soil variables may be useful for understanding the dynamics of hydromorphic soils throughout the water cycle of the Pantanal. This study investigated the redox potential and soil variables (CO2, O2, temperature, moisture and matric potential) by continuous and uninterrupted monitoring. Measurements were made at 10 and 30 cm depth in a Haplic alitic gleisolic Planossol soil with Cerrado sensu stricto vegetation, in the municipality of Barão do Melgaço in the northeastern Pantanal. […]

Long-standing applications of mineral fertilizers or types of organic wastes such as manure can cause phosphorus (P) accumulation and changes in the accumulated P forms in the soil. The objective of this research was to evaluate the forms of P accumulated in soils treated with mineral fertilizer or different types of manure in a long-term experiment. Soil was sampled from the 0-5 cm layer of plots fertilized with five different nutrient sources for nine years: 1) control without fertilizer; 2) […]