Abstract
Agricultural land use causes changes in physical and chemical attributes of the soil, due to the management practices employed the productive capacity of the soil can be compromised under different agricultural systems. The soils of Porto Alegre are quite diverse reflecting the geology, topography and drainage network of the region, and include lowland soils, like the alluvial plain of the Arroio Dilúvio. This study was carried out in four landscape units (Native Forest, Agroforestry System, Horse Farm and Agricultural Crops), to assess changes in soil characteristics after different types of land use and management on the plain of the Dilúvio Arroio. We sampled disturbed and undisturbed soil samples for chemical (pH, EC, V, SOM, CEC, Al3+, H+Al) and physical analysis (porosity, microporosity and macroporosity). These chemical and physical attributes of the soils, especially pH, V%, SOM, CEC and Al3+, underwent changes under the different types of land use and management, with significant differences. Most changes were detected in the cropland soils. Multivariate analysis demonstrated the influence of the different types of land use, at the surface, land use and management had the greatest influence, while at depth, the proximity of the areas was the predominant factor.
Highlights
Unlike air or water quality concepts, there are no unique standards or normatization to assess soil quality, currently various concepts to define soil quality or degradation are considered (Araujo et al, 2012)
Bulk density can be used as a quality parameter that is related to soil compaction and to other attributes, such as porosity and soil moisture (Costa et al, 2007)
Agroforestry System (AFS) had significantly higher values than Agricultural Crops (AC) and Native Forest (NF), and it wasn’t stated in the interviews, we evaluate that some composts used in diseases treatments had an important influence (Brunetto et al, 2018)
Summary
Unlike air or water quality concepts, there are no unique standards or normatization to assess soil quality, currently various concepts to define soil quality or degradation are considered (Araujo et al, 2012). Most definitions empahsize the need to adopt a series of properties, especially the context of land use and land cover. Soil quality indicators are measurable properties (quantitative or qualitative) of the soil or plant involved in a process or activity and allow the changes in each ecosystem to be characterised, evaluated and monitored (Karlen et al, 1997). Agricultural land use causes changes in physical and chemical attributes of the soil. Which could lead to a decrease in quality as a result of the removal of plant cover and the excessive use of mechanisation or turning, among others. Due to the management practices employed, the productive capacity of the soil can be compromised under different agricultural systems (Rheinheimer et al, 2007)
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