The use of treated industrial wastewater in flood irrigation of rice may cause electrochemical changes and increase the nutrient content in the soil solution. To test this hypothesis, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the dynamics of the chemical and electrochemical properties of the soil solution under flooded rice irrigated with treated industrial leachate containing 820 mg L-1 of Na. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, using pots filled with 20 kg of soil in a […]

The use of no-tillage systems associated with the use of cover crops and crop rotation changes some soil physical properties and may indicate change in soil quality. This study aimed to use the aggregate stability index (IEA) and the sensitivity index (SI) to assess changes in soil physical attributes with the use of different plant cover after twelve years of no-tillage. We used a randomized block design with the following types of cover crops: sunn hemp, millet, sorghum, brachiaria, and […]

The olive tree is a temperate climate plant, whose fructification requires low temperatures before flowering. The production of good quality seedling material is essential for establishing an orchard, and association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can be very important in this respect. In Brazil, there are no studies related to the use of AMF in olive seedling production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the use of different AMF species on the development of seedlings […]

Soil compaction has been recognized as a severe problem in mechanized agriculture and has an influence on many soil properties and processes. Yet, there are few studies on the long-term effects of soil compaction, and the development of soil compaction has been shown through a limited number of soil parameters. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the persistence of soil compaction effects (three traffic treatments: T0, without traffic; T3, three tractor passes; and T5, five tractor passes) on […]

Soil microbial biomass (SMB) plays an important role in nutrient cycling in agroecosystems, and is limited by several factors, such as soil water availability. This study assessed the effects of soil water availability on microbial biomass and its variation over time in the Latossolo Amarelo concrecionário of a secondary forest in eastern Amazonia. The fumigation-extraction method was used to estimate the soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen content (SMBC and SMBN). An adaptation of the fumigation-incubation method was used to […]

Among the greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide (N2O) is considered important, in view of a global warming potential 296 times greater than that of carbon dioxide (CO2) and its dynamics strongly depend on the availability of C and mineral N in the soil. The understanding of the factors that define emissions is essential to develop mitigation strategies. This study evaluated the dynamics of N2O emissions after the application of different rice straw amounts and nitrate levels in soil solution. Pots containing […]

Biological N fixation in forage legumes is an important alternative to reduce pasture degradation, and is strongly influenced by the inoculant symbiotic capability. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of Calopo (Calopogonium mucunoides) rhizobial isolated from soil under three vegetation covers of an Argissolo Vermelho-Amarelo of the Dry Forest Zone of Pernambuco. An experiment was conducted evaluating 25 isolates, aside from 5 uninoculated controls with 0; 309; 60; 90 and 120 kg ha-1 N, and a treatment inoculated with the SEMIA […]

The Shape of sand grains plays an important role in evaluation of soil particle size distribution. However, in most sieving techniques it is assumed that grains are spherical and can be described by a single parameter, diameter. Moreover, the subjectivity of the tests used to estimate sand roughness makes it difficult to obtain data that accurately represent reality. The aim of this paper was to study the use of image analysis together with the degree of sphericity and fractal theory […]

Soil compaction is an undesirable consequence of land use for crop production, especially under cultivation with minimum soil turnover as in the no-tillage system (NTS). However, the compaction caused by machine traffic on soils under NTS does not make crop production unviable, indicating that some intrinsic mechanisms promote the reversion of soil compaction. In this study, the influence of alternate contraction and expansion cycles was evaluated with regard to the bulk density (ρ) of a Latossolo Vermelho argiloso (clayey Oxisol) […]

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play an important role in natural ecosystems as they influence plant nutrition and soil structure. The aim of this study was to determine the mycorrhizal inoculum potential and the relationship between mycorrhizal mycelium length of AMF and aggregation of riparian soils. Soil samples were collected in riparian areas in the Itajai Açu river watershed, between the municipalities of Gaspar and Navegantes, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Eight areas were sampled within three soil classes: Cambissolo (Inceptisol) (C), Gleissolo […]