Chemical and biological properties of phosphorus-fertilized soil under legume and grass cover (Cerrado region, Brazil)

The use of cover crops has been suggested as an effective method to maintain and/or increase the organic matter content, while maintaining and/or enhancing the soil physical, chemical and biological properties. The fertility of Cerrado soils is low and, consequently, phosphorus levels as well. Phosphorus is required at every metabolic stage of the plant, as it plays a role in the processes of protein and energy synthesis and influences the photosynthetic process. This study evaluated the influence of cover crops and phosphorus rates on soil chemical and biological properties after two consecutive years of common bean. The study analyzed an Oxisol in Selvíria (Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil), in a randomized block, split plot design, in a total of 24 treatments with three replications. The plot treatments consisted of cover crops (millet, pigeon pea, crotalaria, velvet bean, millet + pigeon pea, millet + crotalaria, and millet + velvet bean) and one plot was left fallow. The subplots were represented by phosphorus rates applied as monoammonium phosphate (0, 60 and 90 kg ha-1 P2O5). In August 2011, the soil chemical properties were evaluated (pH, organic matter, phosphorus, potential acidity, cation exchange capacity, and base saturation) as well as biological variables (carbon of released CO2, microbial carbon, metabolic quotient and microbial quotient). After two years of cover crops in rotation with common bean, the cover crop biomass had not altered the soil chemical properties and barely influenced the microbial activity. The biomass production of millet and crotalaria (monoculture or intercropped) was highest. The biological variables were sensitive and responded to increasing phosphorus rates with increases in microbial carbon and reduction of the metabolic quotient.

Effects of traffic control on the soil physical quality and the cultivation of sugarcane

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Iron oxides as proxies for characterizing anisotropy in soil CO2 emission in sugarcane areas under green harvest

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

Mineralization of poly(epsilon-caprolactone)/adipate modified starch blend in agricultural soil

The biodegradability properties of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) and modified adipate-starch (AS) blends, using Edenol-3203 (E) as a starch plasticizer, were investigated in laboratory by burial tests of the samples in previously analyzed agricultural soil. The biodegradation process was carried out using the respirometric test according to ASTM D 5988-96, and the mineralization was followed by both variables such as carbon dioxide evolution and mass loss. The results indicated that the presence of AS-E accelerated the biodegradation rate as expected.

Effects of litter manipulation in a tropical Eucalyptus plantation on leaching of mineral nutrients, dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon

Although many studies have shown that soil solution chemistry can be a reliable indicator of biogeochemical cycling in forest ecosystems, the effects of litter manipulations on the fluxes of dissolved elements in gravitational soil solutions have rarely been investigated. We estimated the fluxes of NH4-N, NO3-N, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Cl, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) over the first two years after re-planting Eucalyptus trees in the coastal area of Congo. Two treatments were replicated in two blocks after clear-cutting 7-year-old stands: in treatment R, all the litter above the mineral soil was removed before planting, and in a double slash (DS) treatment, the amount of harvest residues was doubled. The soil solutions were sampled down to a depth of 4 m and the water fluxes were estimated using the Hydrus 1D model parameterized from soil moisture measurements in 4 plots. Isotopic and spectroscopic analytical techniques were used to assess the changes in dissolved organic matter (DOM) properties throughout the transfer in the soil. The first year after planting, the fluxes of NH4-N, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Cl and DOC in the topsoil of the DS treatment were 2-5 times higher than in R, which showed that litter was a major source of dissolved nutrients. Nutrient fluxes in gravitational solutions decreased sharply in the second year after planting, irrespective of the soil depth, as a result of intense nutrient uptake by Eucalyptus trees. Losses of dissolved nutrients were noticeably low in these Eucalyptus plantations despite a low cation exchange capacity, a coarse soil texture and large amounts of harvest residues left on-site at the clear cut in the DS treatment. All together, these results clarified the strong effect of litter manipulation observed on eucalypt growth in Congolese sandy soils. DOM fluxes, as well as changes in delta C-13, C:N and aromaticity of DOM throughout the soil profile showed that the organic compounds produced in the litter layer were mainly consumed by microorganisms or retained in the topsoil. Below a depth of 15 cm, most of the DOC and the DON originated from the first 2 cm of the soil and the exchanges between soil solutions and soil organic matter were low. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

ORGANIC RESIDUE AND PHOSPHORUS AS CONDITIONERS OF DEGRADED SOIL AND EFFECTS ON THE INITIAL GROWTH OF Dipteryx alata Vog.

In northwestern Sao Paulo State, it was established, in 1965, the hydroelectric station of Ilha Solteira (CESP) that produced extensive degraded areas, from where it was removed the soil superficial layers. For the re-establishment of the vegetation, in areas like these, it is necessary the addition of chemical inputs and organic material. Associating the presence in the area of macrophytes, to the need of recovery of degraded areas and the availability of seeds from native species of Cerrado, it was intended the development of this work, with the objective of evaluating the addition effects of organic residue and phosphorus on the material of degraded soil and on the initial growth of Dipteryx alata, arboreal species of 'cerrado'. The soil material was collected in area of degraded soil by the construction of Ilha Solteira hydroelectric station. The experiment was conducted in two environmental conditions, greenhouse and plenty of sun. The treatments consisted of four phosphorus doses (0, 100, 200 and 300 mg dm(-3) of P2O5), with or without macrophytes addition, with 16 treatments and 10 repetitions each one. The used macrophytes, collected at Jupia hydroelectric station, in Mato Grosso do Sul state, were dried, sliced, incorporated to the soil material and incubated during 60 days. The seeds of Dipteryx alata, collected around of the area, were sowed in washed sand and after 60 days introduced in the treatments. The plants were appraised monthly for height, stem diameter and leaves chlorophyll. After 210 days, the plants were collected and evaluated for fresh and dry weight of aerial part and radicular system and the soil material was evaluated for fertility and microbial activity by the carbon of liberated CO2. The organic residue, incorporated to the material of soil degraded, positively affects the soil fertility and the soil microbial activity. The applied phosphorus doses influenced the behavior of Ca, SB, H+Al and CTC, when applied in the absence of organic residue, it promoted significant and linear increments for values of potential acidity, and indicated the organic residue importance. The initial growth of the Dipteryx alata was favored by the protected cultivation, for the incorporation of organic residue and for the phosphorus addition to the soil. At the end although the material of degraded soil comes as good perspective for disposal of this residue, studies about the field conditions are necessary.

SIMULATION OF USE AND MANAGEMENT EFFECTS ON THE SOIL ORGANIC MATTER POOLS OF THE ATLANTIC FOREST BIOME, BRAZIL

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Organic farm does not improve neither soil, or water quality in rural watersheds from southeastern Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

CO2 and N2O emissions in a soil chronosequence at a glacier retreat zone in Maritime Antarctica

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

The effects of land use and soil management on the physical properties of an Oxisol in Southeast Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Effect of cropping systems in no-till farming on the quality of a Brazilian Oxisol

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Development, validation, and application of a method for the GC-MS analysis of fipronil and three of its degradation products in samples of water, soil, and sediment

A method for the identification and quantification of pesticide residues in water, soil, and sediment samples has been developed, validated, and applied for the analysis of real samples. The specificity was determined by the retention time and the confirmation and quantification of analyte ions. Linearity was demonstrated over the concentration range of 20 to 120 µg L(-1), and the correlation coefficients varied between 0.979 and 0.996, depending on the analytes. The recovery rates for all analytes in the studied matrix were between 86% and 112%. The intermediate precision and repeatability were determined at three concentration levels (40, 80, and 120 µg L(-1)), with the relative standard deviation for the intermediate precision between 1% and 5.3% and the repeatability varying between 2% and 13.4% for individual analytes. The limits of detection and quantification for fipronil, fipronil sulfide, fipronil-sulfone, and fipronil-desulfinyl were 6.2, 3.0, 6.6, and 4.0 ng L(-1) and 20.4, 9.0, 21.6, and 13.0 ng L(-1), respectively. The method developed was used in water, soil, and sediment samples containing 2.1 mg L(-1) and 1.2% and 5.3% of carbon, respectively. The recovery of pesticides in the environmental matrices varied from 88.26 to 109.63% for the lowest fortification level (40 and 100 µg kg(-1)), from 91.17 to 110.18% for the intermediate level (80 and 200 µg kg(-1)), and from 89.09 to 109.82% for the highest fortification level (120 and 300 µg kg(-1)). The relative standard deviation for the recovery of pesticides was under 15%.

Coffee processing residues as a soil potassium amendment

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