Quantification of the soil physical quality of a tropical oxisol using the s index

• Autores: Tormena, Cássio Antonio; Da Silva, Álvaro Pires; Imhoff, Silvia del Carmen; Dexter, Anthony Roger
• Año de publicación: 2008
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: BULK DENSITY; NO-TILLAGE; SOIL STRUCTURE; SOIL WATER RETENTION; TROPICAL SOILS
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Soil physical quality is fundamental for the sustainability of agro ecosystems. Soil physical quality assessment must be developed using parameters that describe physical behavior. S, a new soil physical parameter has recently been introduced for assessing the soil physical quality. A good soil physical quality has been associated with values of S > 0.035 in soils from temperate climates. However, S has not been evaluated in tropical soils yet. Therefore we tested the hypothesis that S is a reliable soil physical quality indicator of a Typic Hapludox cropped with maize under no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT). Undisturbed samples were collected from each tillage system in the row and interrow positions. Soil bulk density was determined in the samples and the S parameter was calculated using a pedotransfer function from the same samples. The parameter S was able to differentiate tillage and position with S NT < SCT independent of the row and interrow sampling positions. Higher S values were verified in row position than in the interrow in both tillage systems. With the use of a pedotransfer function it was also possible to establish a negative relationship between S and soil compaction. The results confirmed our hypothesis and suggest that further studies should be carried out to evaluate S in other tropical soils and management systems.
Fil: Tormena, Cássio Antonio. UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DE MARINGÁ (UEM);
Fil: Da Silva, Álvaro Pires. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil
Fil: Imhoff, Silvia del Carmen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral; Argentina
Fil: Dexter, Anthony Roger. Instytut Uprawy Nawozenia I Gleboznawstwa Państwowy Instytut Badawczy;