Physical-chemical and microbiological changes in Cerrado Soil under differing sugarcane harvest management systems

Background: Sugarcane cultivation plays an important role in Brazilian economy, and it is expanding fast, mainly due to the increasing demand for ethanol production. In order to understand the impact of sugarcane cultivation and management, we studied sugarcane under different management regimes (pre-harvest burn and mechanical, unburnt harvest, or green cane), next to a control treatment with native vegetation. The soil bacterial community structure (including an evaluation of the diversity of the ammonia oxidizing (amoA) and denitrifying (nirK) genes), greenhouse gas flow and several soil physicochemical properties were evaluated. Results: Our results indicate that sugarcane cultivation in this region resulted in changes in several soil properties. Moreover, such changes are reflected in the soil microbiota. No significant influence of soil management on greenhouse gas fluxes was found. However, we did find a relationship between the biological changes and the dynamics of soil nutrients. In particular, the burnt cane and green cane treatments had distinct modifications. There were significant differences in the structure of the total bacterial, the ammonia oxidizing and the denitrifying bacterial communities, being that these groups responded differently to the changes in the soil. A combination of physical and chemical factors was correlated to the changes in the structures of the total bacterial communities of the soil. The changes in the structures of the functional groups follow a different pattern than the physicochemical variables. The latter might indicate a strong influence of interactions among different bacterial groups in the N cycle, emphasizing the importance of biological factors in the structuring of these communities. Conclusion: Sugarcane land use significantly impacted the structure of total selected soil bacterial communities and ammonia oxidizing and denitrifier gene diversities in a Cerrado field site in Central Brazil. A high impact of land use was observed in soil under the common burnt cane management. The green cane soil also presented different profiles compared to the control soil, but to at a lesser degree.

Brazilian research on extremophiles in the context of astrobiology

Extremophiles are organisms adapted to grow at extreme ranges of environmental variables, such as high or low temperatures, acid or alkaline medium, high salt concentration, high pressures and so forth. Most extremophiles are micro-organisms that belong to the Archaea and Bacteria domains, and are widely spread across the world, which include the polar regions, volcanoes, deserts, deep oceanic sediments, hydrothermal vents, hypersaline lakes, acid and alkaline water bodies, and other extreme environments considered hostile to human life. Despite the tropical climate, Brazil has a wide range of ecosystems which include some permanent or seasonally extreme environments. For example, the Cerrado is a biome with very low soil pH with high Al+3 concentration, the mangroves in the Brazilian coast are anaerobic and saline, Pantanal has thousands of alkaline-saline lakes, the Caatinga arid and hot soils and the deep sea sediments in the Brazilian ocean shelf. These environments harbour extremophilic organisms that, coupled with the high natural biodiversity in Brazil, could be explored for different purposes. However, only a few projects in Brazil intended to study the extremophiles. In the frame of astrobiology, for example, these organisms could provide important models for defining the limits of life and hypothesize about life outside Earth. Brazilian microbiologists have, however, studied the extremophilic micro-organisms inhabiting non-Brazilian environments, such as the Antarctic continent. The experience and previous results obtained from the Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR) provide important results that are directly related to astrobiology. This article is a brief synopsis of the Brazilian experience in researching extremophiles, indicating the most important results related to astrobiology and some future perspectives in this area. Received 29 February 2012, accepted 25 May 2012, first published online 11 July 2012

Vertical distribution of biotic pollination systems in cerrado sensu stricto in the Triangulo Mineiro, MG, Brazil)

(Vertical distribution of biotic pollination systems in cerrado sensu stricto in the Triangulo Mineiro, MG, Brazil). Several factors can influence the distribution of floral resources and pollination systems in ecosystems, such as climate, altitude, geographic region, fragmentation of natural areas and differences in floristic composition along the vertical stratification. This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of the vertical stratification of biotic pollination systems in cerrado (sensu stricto) fragments in the Triangulo Mineiro. There was no significant difference (chi(2)(0.05,9)=14.17; P = 0.12) in total plant species richness among fragments, nor in the species richness of each layer (trees, shrubs, herbs and lianas) and the shrub layer was the best represented. Likewise, there was no significant difference between fragments for the systems of pollination (chi(2)(0 05,21) =13.80; P = 0.8778). Pollination by bees was the most common, corresponding to 85% of species in each fragment. In relative terms, plants pollinated by bees were dominant in all strata, reaching 100% for the lianas in fragments 1, 3 and 4 and for the herbs in fragments 1 and 4. In this study, based on floristic composition and distribution of biotic pollination systems in the vertical stratification, we could define a vertical mosaic in the cerrado studied, which has implications for the sustainability of communities in the cerrado, as well as the horizontal mosaic of vegetation types.

Carbono em agregados do solo sob vegetação nativa, pastagem e sistemas agrícolas no bioma Cerrado

A matéria orgânica do solo (MOS) é responsável pela fertilidade, ciclagem de nutrientes e estabilidade da estrutura, possuindo estreita relação com a agregação do solo. No entanto, ainda não é clara a relação entre as classes de agregados na dinâmica de acúmulo ou perda de MOS em função do uso e manejo do solo. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar os teores de carbono (C) em agregados do solo sob quatro usos e manejos: Cerrado nativo (CE), sistema plantio direto (SPD), sistema plantio convencional (SPC) e pastagem (PA). As áreas de estudo estão localizadas no município de Rio Verde (GO), em solo classificado como Latossolo Vermelho distrófico de textura argilosa. Em amostras de solo coletadas em fevereiro de 2007 nas camadas de 0-5, 5-10 e 10-20 cm de profundidade, foram determinados: a quantidade de macroagregados (maiores que 2,0 mm), mesoagregados (maiores que 0,25 e menores que 2,00 mm) e microagregados (maiores que 0,05 e menores que 0,25 mm) estáveis em água, os índices de agregação diâmetro médio ponderado (DMP) e geométrico (DMG) e os teores de C nas classes de agregados estabelecidas. No solo avaliado observou-se predominância de macroagregados, com maior quantidade sob CE e PA, em comparação ao solo sob SPD e SPC, indicando efeito negativo do cultivo do solo na conservação de macroagregados. Contudo, os teores de C nos agregados do solo na camada de 0-20 cm foram maiores no CE e SPD em relação a PA e SPC, sugerindo que o não revolvimento e a manutenção dos resíduos culturais na superfície do solo favorecem o acúmulo de C. Com isso, foi verificado que os macro e mesoagregados podem ser mais sensíveis ao tipo de uso e manejo do solo, quando comparados aos microagregados. A agregação do solo sob PA é semelhante à do CE, embora com menores teores de C, sugerindo dinâmica de agregação diferenciada, o que merece a atenção de novas pesquisas.

Distribuição vertical dos sistemas de polinização bióticos em áreas de cerrado sentido restrito no Triângulo Mineiro, MG, Brasil

Alguns fatores podem influenciar a distribuição dos recursos florais e sistemas de polinização bióticos nos ecossistemas, como por exemplo, o clima, a altitude, a região geográfica, fragmentação de áreas naturais e as diferenças na composição florística na estratificação vertical. Este estudo teve por objetivo avaliar a distribuição dos sistemas de polinização bióticos na estratificação vertical em fragmentos de cerrado sentido restrito no Triângulo Mineiro. Não houve diferença significativa (χ²0,05,9 =14,17; p = 0,12) na riqueza florística geral entre os fragmentos, nem quando comparada em separado para cada estrato (arbóreo, arbustivo, herbáceo e liana), estando o estrato arbustivo mais bem representado. Da mesma forma, não houve diferenças significativas entre fragmentos quanto aos sistemas de polinização (χ²0,05,21 =13,80; p = 0,8778), sendo a polinização por abelhas mais comum, correspondendo ao menos 85% das espécies de plantas em cada fragmento. Em termos relativos, as plantas polinizadas por abelhas foram dominantes em todos os estratos, chegando a 100% das lianas e herbáceas em alguns fragmentos. Neste estudo, com base na composição florística e distribuição dos sistemas de polinização na estratificação vertical, podemos caracterizar um mosaico vertical no cerrado sentido restrito, que tem implicações na sustentabilidade das comunidades no cerrado, assim como os mosaicos horizontais de fitofisionomias.