We are grateful to De Jong van Lier for raising queries about our study () which merits some clarification, and we would like to reply to his comments. The principal purpose of our study () was to determine soil physical quality in the Haihe River Basin in northern China using the S-index proposed by . The S-theory, developed with a basis on European soils, has been applied worldwide and produced plausible results. We noted the argument from De that the […]

Almost two years have passed since the publication in RBCS of my critical review about the S-index and its use in Brazil (De ). Two main conclusions were drawn from the analysis presented in that paper. First, as a relative indicator of soil physical quality, the S-index () has no additional values over bulk density or total porosity. Second, as an absolute indicator, S has shown not to be capable of predicting soil physical quality, and a threshold value (like […]

ABSTRACT Nutrient content in soil solution may vary in response to the applied amount of pig slurry (PS). Thus, the aim of this research was to evaluate the nutrient content in soil solution and its relationship to nutritional status and yield of corn under 12 years of annual fertilization with increasing doses of PS, soluble mineral fertilizer (MF) and PS combined with MF. The experiment was conducted under field conditions in a Latossolo Vermelho Distroférrico (Typic Hapludox). The treatments consisted […]

ABSTRACT The soil porous space is where processes related to gases and soil solution occur, and provides an adequate guide for agricultural practices. This study aimed to evaluate the integrated effects of cultivation and the application of liquid bovine biofertilizer on the porous network of a Typic Haplocambids (Cambissolo Háplico Ta Eutrófico) cultivated with figs (Ficus carica L.). Four treatments were evaluated (under fig cultivation with the application of 20, 40 and 60 % of biofertilizer through irrigation, a control […]

ABSTRACT Correctly interpreting soil fertility and its spatial distribution within an area helps to lessen losses and environmental effects associated with agriculture, to optimize fertilization and liming practices. This study is aimed at using concepts and methods from spatial and temporal analyses to soil fertility and to develop a fuzzy classification methodology in an effort to define input application zones in three conilon coffee harvests. An irregular network with georeferenced points was built in the central region of the farm. […]

ABSTRACT Mechanical harvesting has increasingly been used in sugarcane production units, and it has often resulted in reduced structural quality of the soil due to soil compaction caused by machine traffic. Thus, sugarcane ratoon crops have often been chiseled to overcome such a problem. The aim of the current study is to assess some physical properties of a Latossolo Vermelho Distroférrico (Rhodic Hapludox) that was chiseled after the third harvest in a sugarcane ratoon crop. The study was conducted in […]

ABSTRACT Revegetation is essential to improve the quality of constructed soils. This study investigated effects of perennial grasses on total organic carbon (TOC) stock, organic matter (OM) fractions and on quality of a recently constructed soil, after coal mining. Soil samples were collected from the 0.00-0.03 m layer two years after the beginning of the experiment. The treatments consisted of Cynodon dactylon cv vaquero (T1); Urochloa brizantha (T2); Panicum maximun (T3); Urochloa humidicola (T4); Hemarthria altissima (T5); Cynodon dactylon cv […]

ABSTRACT There are many methods for determining precompression stress (σp), whose value is affected by the slope of the soil compression curve. This study was designed to evaluate the hypothesis that for a certain compression curve all methods used to determine σp present the same value and accuracy. The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy and the relationship among seven of these methods by computational simulation of soil compression curves under nine scenarios. The following methods were […]

ABSTRACT Root growth can be limited by physical and chemical conditions of the soil. Compacted and acidic soils, where there is an occurrence of exchangeable Al, constitute barriers to use of the soil by plant roots. The hypothesis of this study was that physical and chemical properties of the inter-row soil of a peach orchard influence the root distribution of different rootstocks. The aim of this study was to describe and register the soil physical and chemical properties and root […]

ABSTRACT Bioavailability of heavy metals at contaminated sites is largely controlled by the physicochemical properties of the environmental media such as dissolved organic matter, hydroxides and clay colloids, pH, soil cation exchange capacity and oxidation-reduction potential. The aim of this study was to investigate soil pH and heavy metal solubility effect by levels of humic and fulvic acids applied in soil samples with different levels of contamination by heavy metals. The soil samples used in this study were collected in […]