Abstract
The main cause of decreased soil fertility and soil organic matter content is intensive crop farming with inadequate management. This study aimed to evaluate soil chemical properties, total organic carbon content, physical granulometric fractions (particulate organic carbon and mineral-associated organic carbon), carbon stocks, and carbon management indices of oxisols in different integrated agricultural production systems (IAPSs) with reference to values in a haymaking area and native forest. The experiments were performed using completely randomized design, considering nine differently managed areas, including seven IAPSs and two reference areas (haymaking area and native forest); four soil samples from the 0.00-0.05, 0.05-0.10, and 0.10-0.20 m layers were randomly collected from each area and the abovementioned variables were evaluated. The results showed no differences in variables between the managed and reference areas, indicating the maintenance of fertility and carbon fractions. Therefore, the tested management strategies promote beneficial modifications of soil properties. Producers should adopt different IAPS management strategies for soil preservation.
Highlights
In an attempt to harmonize agricultural production with soil conservation, new concepts have been developed based on soil preservation, nutrient cycling, and crop diversification
Using integrated agricultural production systems (IAPSs), in which several activities operate in a synergistic way within the same area, satisfactory results can be obtained in terms of soil conservation
The present study aimed to evaluate soil chemical properties, total organic carbon (TOC), physical granulometric fractions, st, and carbon management index (CMI) of Oxisols in different IAPSs compared with values in two references areas, including a haymaking area and a native forest
Summary
In an attempt to harmonize agricultural production with soil conservation, new concepts have been developed based on soil preservation, nutrient cycling, and crop diversification. Previous studies have reported that in Oxisols, adoption of IAPS is efficient in terms of maintenance and improvement of nutrient availability, total organic carbon (TOC), carbon stock (st), humification, and physical granulometry fractions of soil organic matter (SOM), among others (Loss et al, 2014; Costa et al, 2015). Study of SOM components, such as granulometric physical fractions, may aid in the evaluation of changes occurring over a short period due to their greater sensitivity to the management adopted (Assmann et al, 2014; Conceição et al, 2014). MOC is linked to intense humification, being less sensitive to changes related to soil management, over a short period (Conceição et al, 2014; Assmann et al, 2014)
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