Volume 34, Number 1, 2010

The intensive use of land alters the distribution of the pore size which imparts consequences on the soil physical quality. The Least Limiting Water Range (LLWR) allows for the visualization of the effects of management systems upon either the improvement or the degradation of the soil physical quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical quality of a Red Latosol (Oxisol) submited to cover crops in the period prior to the maize crop in a no-tillage and […]

Soil is the basis underlying the food production chain and it is fundamental to improve and conserve its productive capacity. Imbalanced exploitation can degrade agricultural areas physical, chemical and biologically. The objective of this study was to evaluate some soil physical properties and their relation with organic carbon contents of a Humic Dystrudept under conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT), for 12 years in rotation (r) and succession (s) cropping systems. The experiment was carried out in Lages, SC (latitude […]

The understanding and quantification of soil use and management on the soil physical quality are important to develop and select sustainable agricultural systems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the structural quality of a clayey Brazilian Oxisol under different production and soil tillage systems by measuring the tensile strength (TS) and to quantify aggregate friability (F). The study was conducted in Castro, Paraná state, in southern Brazil, using three production systems and seven soil tillage types, in a […]

Specific rainfall characteristics vary among regions and their erosion potential must be known for the planning of agricultural and civil engineering activities. For Rio Grande (RS, Brazil), the erosivity and relationships with the precipitation and rainfall coefficient, rainfall hydrologic patterns and return period were determined based on rainfall data of 23 years. For each erosive rainfall the segments of the rainfall chart with the same intensity were separated together and the data registered in worksheets. The mean monthly and annual […]

Quantity and size distribution of sediments transported by runoff are influenced by soil management, cover and crop systems, and by rainfall, among other factors, representing an important aspect in soil conservation planning. The objective of this study was to quantify runoff sediments and relate them with runoff velocity, during soybean growth, in a simulated rainfall experiment initiated in 1998 on a typical Hapludox, under the following soil management systems: conventional tillage with one plowing plus two diskings (CT) and no-tillage […]

Hydrological models developed to predict the impacts of non-point source pollution and land use and occupation on water quality have been extremely useful in the study of agricultural systems. For this purpose, the objective of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of the model SWAT 2005 (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) to simulate the flow rate and total phosphorous flow mass. The research was conducted in two contiguous watersheds of the Conrado and Pinheiro rivers, affluents to the Pato […]

The adoption of ICP technique to determine P in soil testing has been questioned, due the values determined with this technique is not comparable that those determined with colorimetric method. In the USA, some laboratories are restricted to adopt the ICP technique due the follow reasons: the nutrient recommendations to plants were developed for colorimetric method for P determination; significantly differences have been obtained between P determined with colorimetric and ICP techniques, because the high plasma temperature can measure other […]