Tin mining in the Serra da Onça in the Jamari National Forest, State of Rondônia, Brazil, caused severe chemical, physical, and biological changes in the soil. In 1997, the area was divided into plots and a rehabilitation program was begun, which consisted of land surface modeling, construction of terraces, liming, fertilization, and planting of leguminous crops and native plants. In subsequent years, new plots were set up in the rehabilitation program so that at the time of sampling the different […]

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 […]

Epigeous termite mounds are frequently observed in pasture areas, but the processes regulating their population dynamics are poorly known. This study evaluated epigeous termite mounds in cultivated grasslands used as pastures, assessing their spatial distribution by means of geostatistics and evaluating their vitality. The study was conducted in the Cerrado biome in the municipality of Rio Brilhante, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. In two pasture areas (Pasture 1 and Pasture 2), epigeous mounds (nests) were georeferenced and analyzed for height, […]

Soil management, in terms of tillage and cropping systems, strongly influences the biological properties of soil involved in the suppression of plant diseases. Fungistasis mediated by soil microbiota is an important component of disease-suppressive soils. We evaluated the influence of different management systems on fungistasis against Fusarium graminearum, the relationship of fungistasis to the bacterial profile of the soil, and the possible mechanisms involved in this process. Samples were taken from a long-term experiment set up in a Paleudult soil […]

Integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLs) are a viable strategy for the recovery and maintenance of soil characteristics. In the present study, an ICL experiment was conducted by the Instituto Agronômico do Paraná in the municipality of Xambre, Parana (PR), Brazil, to evaluate the effects of various grazing intensities. The objective of the present study was to quantify the levels of microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and soil enzymatic activity in an ICL of soybean (summer) and Brachiaria ruziziensis (winter), with B. ruziziensis […]

Maize is among the most important crops in the world. This plant species can be colonized by diazotrophic bacteria able to convert atmospheric N into ammonium under natural conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of inoculation of the diazotrophic bacterium Herbaspirillum seropedicae (ZAE94) and isolate new strains of plant growth-promoting bacteria in maize grown in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil. The study was conducted in a greenhouse at the Experimental Area of the Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da […]

The sugarcane industry, a strategic crop in Brazil, requires technological improvements in production efficiency to increase the crop energy balance. Among the various currently studied alternatives, inoculation with diazotrophic bacteria proved to be a technology with great potential. In this context, the efficiency of a mixture of bacterial inoculant was evaluated with regard to the agronomic performance and N nutrition of sugarcane. The experiment was carried out on an experimental field of Embrapa Agrobiologia, in Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, using […]

Fertilization and/or the accumulation of organic matter from plant residues can influence the composition of soil and litter community. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of P and K fertilization on total faunal and nematode faunal composition and richness in plant litter and soil for 360 days in an area reforested with Acacia auriculiformis (A. Cunn), located in the municipality of Conceição de Macabu in the State of Rio de Janeiro. For each treatment (fertilized and […]

HCB (hexachlorobenzene) is an environmentally ubiquitous organochlorine compound and is classified as one of the persistent organic pollutants (POP). It is highly toxic and has been found in the region “Baixada Santista” of the state of São Paulo (Brazil) for a number of years. To evaluate the potential of the earthworm species Eisenia andrei as bioindicator of HCB-contamination, earthworm specimens were maintained for 14 days in soil containing 14C-HCB, and their bioaccumulation was analyzed. No mortality was detected after neither […]

The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ubiquitous establishing symbiosis with a large number of plants in spite of soil contamination with heavy metals.This study aimed to evaluate AMF occurrence and diversity in soils of four locations cultivated with grass species and contaminated with heavy metals as a result of Zn extraction and industrialization. AMFs were found in all locations, with species predominance being affected by heavy metal concentration in soil. Twenty one species were identified, belonging to the following genus: […]