Influence of Intensive Agriculture on Dry Deposition of Aerosol Nutrients

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

River avulsions on the Taquari megafan, Pantanal wetland, Brazil

The Pantanal wetland is located in a tectonically active interior sedimentary basin in west-central Brazil. The south-flowing Paraguay River is the trunk-river of an alluvial constructional landform comprising several large alluvial fans, the largest one of which is the Taquari megafan. The Taquari River flows in two distinct geomorphologic zones within the megafan. Entrenched on sediments of Pleistocene fan lobes, the Taquari River flows in a 3 to 5 km wide meander belt in the upper fan, where avulsion is hindered by entrenchment. Downstream of the intersection point, stream discharge progressively decreases and the Taquari River becomes narrow and shallow toward the Paraguay River plain. Within the distributary fan lobe, the channel-levee sandy complex is topographically higher than the adjacent floodplains and avulsion is a natural consequence of crevasses in the natural levees. Many channel avulsions have occurred during the last decades and documented cases show that significant channel changes may take place in a few years. Beginning with crevassing in 1988 and ending with the abandonment of the former channel in 1998, the river completely changed course in the lower fan. Presently, a major avulsion is occurring in the upper portion of the growing fan lobe, where many crevasses have appeared in the natural levees with associated splays onto the floodbasin. New anastomosed channels have formed north of the Taquari River, but downstream of them the flow is unconfined and the water spreads into natural floodbasins. This avulsion is still in process and allows observation of channel evolution, the geomorphic features produced, the sedimentary processes involved, and resulting effects. If the new channels do not rejoin the main channel, the river mouth may abandon its present master channel and shift to a position a hundred kilometers north from its present position. A large volume of sediment has been transferred to the floodbasin, with progradation of crevasse splay deposits over fine overbank sediments. Many geomorphic features, recognizable in satellite and radar images, clearly show that avulsion has occurred many limes before in the Taquari River. Avulsion belt deposits and former diverted channels testify to ancient avulsion events within the fan lobe and show that progradation of splays onto the floodbasin is the most important infilling process within the Taquari distributary fan lobe. The avulsion process in the lower Taquari River has accelerated in the last 30 years, along with the magnitude of flooding. Pasture and intensive agriculture in the catchment area has increased the sediment supply to the wetland, but larger floods are also a consequence of higher rainfall since 1973. Avulsion and floods have been a cause of great concern among the local population and landowners. Before human intervention in attempting to control floods, however, a better understanding of the avulsive river system is needed, especially because a major navigation project including the channelization of the Paraguay River was recently proposed. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Efeitos de sistemas de preparo do solo no potencial matricial de um Latossolo Vermelho (Oxisol)

The present work aimed to investigate which was the soil tillage system that better fits for conditions of intensive agriculture, on the region of Selviria-MS. The main objective of this paper was to study the conservation and availability of water in the soil profile. In order to evaluate the soil matric potential in field conditions, readings were accomplished, using tensiometers with a mercury gauger. Matric potential was measured at 0.10 m depth, during the vegetative period of Triticum aestivum L. and at four depths 0.10; 0.20; 0.30 e 0.40 m during the vegetative period of Phaseolus vulgaris L. The study areas were located in the municipal district of Selviria, MS, Brazil. The used experimental set-up was entirely random designed, with treatments disposed in strips; three treatments and four repetitions were used. In the different treatments, soil matric potential was determined. Result allow to conclude that the water matric potential was highest for no-tillage and minimum tillage; however, it was also shown that these two tillage systems, allowed to conserve more water in the soil, when compared to the conventional tillage. In the last cycle of the Phaseolus vulgaris L. crop, no-tillage presented smaller storage of water in the soil, compared to the minimum tillage.

Restoration of a degraded area using soil tillage systems in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

In Brazil the intensive agriculture use, mainly pasture, is the main cause of the presence of extensive areas of degraded lands. This study aimed to assess the impact of different soil management practices in a pasture degraded area used as garbage disposal. The experiment was performed at the Faculdade de Engenharia Agrícola, Universidade Estadual de Campinas - UNICAMP, in Campinas, state of São Paulo, Brazil, from 1990 to 1996. This area has undergone a process of recovery through removal of trash deposited on the surface, in 1985, levelling of soil, followed by application of limestone, subsoiling, planting of legumes (Crotalaria juncea) and crop rotation (soybean and maize). Since 1990 only popcorn maize was grown and established plots managed with different soil tillage systems, including harrow, chisel plow, moldboard plow, no tillage, disk plow and revolving hoe. One plot was planted exclusively with guinea grass (Panicum maximum) to serve as a reference for minimum loss of soil and another grown on a downhill direction to correspond to the expected maximum erosion. There were differences in sediment loss, nutrient loss and productivity of the popcorn maize in the period analyzed. The chisel plow and no tillage treatments caused the slightest loss of soil and nutrients, compared to other tillage systems. The results show that the soil management systems influenced the physical and chemical characteristics of soil, allowing an economical and environmental recovery of the area, providing the conditions for grain agricultural production.

Monitoramento hídrico e determinação de áreas de conflito da sub-bacia do Córrego Saudade, Uberaba-MG

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Ciência do Solo) - FCAV

Mapeamento dos parâmetros pedológicos e ambientais da bacia do Ribeirão Lavapés, em Botucatu - SP, utilizando técnicas de geoprocessamento

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Irrigação e Drenagem) - FCA

Diversidade bacteriana em um latossolo sob cultivo intensivo e floresta através da análise metagenômica

Pós-graduação em Microbiologia Agropecuária - FCAV

Caracterização de hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos (HPA) em rios da bacia hidrográfica do Turvo/Grande

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

Diagnóstico hídrico do rio Uberaba-MG como subsídio para a gestão das áreas de conflito ambiental

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Da escassez ao estresse do planeta: um século de mudanças no ciclo do nitrogênio

Heavy metals and pesticides are usually associated with the main problems humankind has created in the natural environment. However, compounds with characteristics of essential macronutrients are causing serious environmental changes that could intensify, compromising the diversity of life on the planet. This is the case of nitrogen compounds, produced by industrial processes for use in intensive agriculture in addition to those unwittingly produced from human activities, available in excess in the environment. These compounds warrant greater attention from researchers in various fields of knowledge and public agencies for environmental control, toward minimizing their availability in the environment, thereby returning conditions closer to the natural environmental balance of the planet.

Manejo da fertirrigação e salinidade do solo no crescimento da cultura da beterraba

With the increase in world population and scarcity of natural resources, efficient use of fertilizers becomes necessary for intensive agriculture. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at the Department of Agricultural Engineering, UNESP in Botucatu-SP. The treatments were derived from the combination of the soil salinity (E.C: 1.0, 3.0, 6.0, 9.0 and 12.0 dS m-1), Fertigation management (M1 =traditional and M2 = with control of the ionic concentration of the soil solution) and beet cultivars (C1= Early Wonder and C2 = Itapuã) in a 5x2x2 factorial design with four replications in a randomized block design. Throughout the cultivation, the following variables were evaluated: height, stem diameter, length and diameter of plant roots. The height of the plant presented differently according to the Fertigation management and sensitive to levels of electrical conductivity in the soil. The diameter of the roots showed reductions of 3.55 and 2.48 mm for C1 and C2, respectively, every unit increase in electrical conductivity (EC) to M1. Based on the functional relationship of the best adjustment between the diameter of the roots and electrical conductivity in M2 gave an estimated maximum diameter of 90.78 mm to 94.67 mm for C1 and C2.