Volume 35, Number 5, 2011

Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola) plants tend to accumulate significant amounts of Mn in their tissues. However, information regarding the form in which the plant stores the excess is scarce. For a deeper understanding of this aspect, star fruit plantlets were grown in nutritive solutions of Furlani (1999) with increasing levels of Mn (0, 0.5, 25 and 50 mg L-1), and after 30, 60, 90 and 120 days the tissues were collected and subjected to a sequence of extracting solutions: water, […]

The application of gypsum can make Al unavailable to plants and provide soil nutrients, improving conditions for high crop yields. This study evaluated the chemical characteristics of Red Latosol, with or without exchangeable Al as influenced by gypsum rates (0, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, and 5000 kg ha-1) applied to the soil surface, and the effect of gypsum on mineral nutrition and wheat and soybean yields under no-tillage. Gypsum was applied to the surface six months after liming. Six and […]

Nitrification can lead to substantial losses of the applied N through nitrate leaching and N2O emission. The regulation of nitrification may be a strategy to improve fertilizer N recovery and increase its agronomic efficiency. The objective of this study was to evaluate the inhibiting capacity of nitrification in soil by Brachiaria species. The greenhouse experiment was conducted using pots with 10 dm3 of a Red Latosol sample. The treatments consisted of the cultivation of three forage species (Brachiaria brizantha, B. […]

Despite the efficiency of the Shoemaker, McLean, Pratt (SMP) buffer method in estimating soil acidity, the presence of p-nitrophenol and potassium chromate in the solution, both hazardous substances, has caused increasing environmental concerns. The purpose of this study was to test Sikora method (Sikora, 2006) as an alternative to the adapted SMP buffer method, generally used to estimate potential acidity of Southern Brazilian soils. For the test, 21 soils in the South and Cerrado regions of Brazil were sampled. (1) […]

Compaction has become one of the main causes of soil degradation in agricultural areas. It is directly related to the soil management system, often requiring decompaction practices to mitigate the problem. This study aimed to determine the duration of the effects of mechanical soil decompaction, e.g., by plowing and chiseling, associated with soil breaking devices on the seeders, for example disks and disk-ripper, to mitigate the compaction of soil under no tillage; soil physical properties and the force exerted by […]

The environmental zoning for soil and water conservation provides useful information about land use and management. Thus, this study proposes (i) an environmental zoning, based on the combination of Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), soil loss tolerance (T) estimates adapted to Brazilian soils and environmental legislation; and (ii) qualitative-quantitative monitoring of water resources using Total Maximum Daily Load curves (TMDLs). The study area was the Ribeirão Salobra Basin (Terenos, MS, Brazil), located in the transition between the biomes Cerrado and […]

Pasture-agroforestry systems have become an important strategy for the use of sandy soils in the Pampa Biome. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the aggregation, total organic C (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN), carbon of the physical fractions and humification degree of organic matter (OM). Evaluations were conducted in an Alfisol under homogenous eucalyptus forest (HF), between the rows of a pasture-agroforestry system (PA) and in native pasture (NP) in the layers 0.000-0.025, 0.025-0.075, 0.075-0.125, and 0.125-0.225 m. […]

Spatial distribution of the saturated hydraulic conductivity (k0) is essential in the study of soil erosion and surface runoff. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spatial continuity of the soil hydrologic characteristic k0 in the watershed Alto Rio Grande, state of Minas Gerais, and to map k0 based on geostatistical procedures, using data without and with logarithmic transformation. Exponential and spherical semi-variogram models were fitted to the experimental semi-variograms in two approaches: ordinary minimum square (MQO) and […]

The use of manure in agricultural system is a possibility to dispose of the waste generated in animal production, but improper use can cause environmental problems. The general objective of this study was to evaluate carbon and nitrogen concentrations and losses in runoff in four doses of liquid dairy manure (0, 60, 120, 180 m3 ha-1 yr-1) applied to a silt clay loam Oxisol with 13 % slope, in no-till with soybean, oat, corn, and wheat in crop rotation. The […]

On paddy soils in the southern region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, irrigated (flooded) rice is grown on 1´000´000 ha, under different soil management systems. The influence of poor drainage and alternating oxidation and reduction cycles on the content of soil organic carbon is still poorly understood. This long-term study (21 years) was conducted in Capão do Leão, RS, Brazil, to evaluate the effect of irrigated rice management systems on soil organic carbon stocks and physical […]