Qualidade estrutural de um latossolo vermelho submetido à compactação

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The structure change caused by soil compaction is a limiting factor to growth and development of plants. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical parameters of an Eutrophic Oxisol in Jaboticabal, SP. Aggregate stability, hydraulic conductivity and S index were evaluated in a completely randomized split-plot (four levels of compaction and two depth), with four replications and an area of native forest (NF) as control. The compaction treatments consisted of C0 = 0, C1 = 2, C2= 4 and C3 = 6 tractor passed of 11 Mg. It was observed that NF had high rates compared to GMD (geometric mean diameter) and WMD (weighted mean diameter) with larger and more stable aggregates compared to other treatments. The S value of 0,036 and a reduction in the most compacted levels to 0,026 were obtained, since the compaction reduced the value of S, which reached its limiting value (< 0,035) despite the oxidic mineralogy of the analyzed soil.