Effects of Fertilization on Biomass and Macronutrient Content of Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake in Arenized Soil of Pampa Biome

Abstract

The objective of this study was to quantify the biomass and the macronutrient stock in an experiment of fertilization with Eucalyptus urophylla, planted in arenized soil at 12 months-old, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The experiment had a completely randomized design with five treatments (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5) with three replications. The treatments T2, T3, T4 and T5, received increasing doses of triple superphosphate. On the other hand, the T1 treatment was the only one to receive natural phosphate in planting. For the determination of the biomass, fifteen trees were felled and separated in the following components: leaves, branches, stem bark, stem wood and roots. Samples of the components were collected and transported to the laboratory for biomass determination and chemical analysis. The total biomass varied between the treatments, with highest biomass accumulation of 6.83 Mg ha-1 occurring in T5. The T1 presented the highest biomass for roots representing 33.4% of the total biomass. The biomass distribution among the different components in the decreasing order was: roots > stem wood > leaves > branches > stem bark, for all the treatments. The treatment with higher doses of fertilizers (T5) presented the highest amount of nutrient accumulation in the total biomass (131.26 kg ha-1). The concentration and accumulation of nutrients presented the following trend K > N > Ca > Mg > P > S. Analyzing the different components of biomass, the highest amounts of nutrients followed the order: leaves > roots > stem wood > branches > stem bark. Fertilization influenced the biomass production of E. urophylla in arenized soil in the Pampa biome, but without significant differences to date (12 months). The leaves had the highest concentration of macronutrients, with the exception of Ca, which was higher in the bark. The K was the element that presented highest accumulation in whole tree. The plantation of eucalyptus with fertilization management may be an alternative for the economic use of arenized soil.