Abstract
AbstractThis study analyzed the chemical and physical characteristics of replicate sediment samples from water bodies distributed along a gradient of environmental degradation in an agricultural landscape. To assess the effect of agricultural land use (farming and livestock activity) in the Brazilian Savannah, the following sediment attributes were evaluated: pH, cation exchange capacity, organic matter (OM), total organic carbon, humic acids (HAs), and texture (granulometric analysis). In addition, the structure of the HAs was analyzed by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and the degree of OM transformation (dOMt) was determined by emission fluorescence. Compared with the ecological station (ES) (reference site), sediments from the livestock were highly altered, with a higher OM content (~100% difference) and a predominance of smaller size particles (35.00% clay and 45.20% silt). Samples with a higher OM content were related to a smaller dOMt; for example, the ES sediments contained 8.37% OM and had 37.07 dO...
Highlights
Land use involves the economic and cultural activities practiced at a given location that lead to alterations in the surrounding landscapes, i.e. agricultural, residential, industrial, etc
Considering the possible effect of agricultural land use on the transformation of natural landscapes and the importance of sediments in the assessment of environmental alterations, this study aimed to evaluate the influence of farming and livestock activities on the chemical and physical characteristics of sediments in the Brazilian Savannah (Cerrado)
Site description This study was conducted on sediments obtained from lentic water bodies located in three contrasting regions along a gradient of environmental degradation: (i) farming area (FA), land extensively used to cultivate sugar cane; (ii) livestock area (LA), land used to rear beef and dairy cattle, sediments were collected in pasture areas; and (iii) ecological station (ES), area of environmental protection named “Estação Ecológica de Jataí.”
Summary
Land use involves the economic and cultural activities practiced at a given location that lead to alterations in the surrounding landscapes, i.e. agricultural, residential, industrial, etc. We report a study performed in the Brazilian Savannah, locally known as Cerrado. This biome is an important area of economic interest as the source of major Brazilian agricultural products for export. No other country practices agriculture in its savanna region as intensely as Brazil, making Cerrado one of the most important granaries in the world (Furley & Ratter, 1988; IBGE, 2015; Klink & Machado, 2005; Sano, Rosa, Brito, & Ferreira, 2008)
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