SOIL ORGANIC MATTER IN HIGHLAND LEPTOSOLS: INFLUENCE OF PASTURE MANAGEMENT ON COMPOSITION AND CONTENT

作者:Potes Mariana da Luz*; Dick Deborah Pinheiro; Diniz Dalmolin Ricardo Simao; Knicker Heike; da Rosa Alessandro Samuel
来源:Revista Brasileira de Ciencia do Solo, 2010, 34(1): 23-32.

摘要

Burning pastures after the winter is a traditional practice in highland soils, whose main purpose is the regrowth of vegetation. However, the impact of fire, as well as the influence of grazing on the organic matter of Leptosols is still unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the composition and content of organic matter in soil profiles from Sao Jose dos Ausentes, state of Rio Grande do Sul, and to relate the results with the occurrence of burning and grazing, in comparison with a soil under native forest. The following environments were studied: grazed native pasture (2 animals ha(-1)) without burning for 22 years; grazed native pasture (0.5 animals ha(-1)) burned every two years; and native forest adjacent to the pasture area. Composed soil samples were collected from four layers (0-5, 5-10, 10-15 and 15-30 cm) in which contents of C, of N, and of iron oxides (Fe(d) and Fe(o)) were determined and infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetry analyses performed. The subsurface layers of the fire-affected environment contained greater organic matter contents, and in general, a composition with higher proportion of chemically labile structures, in comparison with the unburned pasture. In the latter environment, the lower C content than in the burned pasture was ascribed to more intensive grazing. The C distribution in the native forest environment was similar to that of the unburned pasture. Nevertheless, in the samples under forest, the proportion of organic matter of low molecular weight, extractable with 0.1 mol L(-1) HCl and related mainly to microbial activity, exceeded that of the pasture environment.

  • 出版日期2010-2