Losses of soil, water, organic carbon and nutrients caused by water erosion in different crops and natural savannah in the northern Amazon

Fernando Gomes De Souza,Thiago Henrique De Castro Araújo,Wellington Farias Araújo,Valdinar Ferreira Melo

doi:10.4136/ambi-agua.2126

Fernando Gomes De Souza, Thiago Henrique De Castro Araújo + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4136/ambi-agua.2126

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Abstract

Currently in Brazil, the main form of erosion is caused by the impact of raindrops on the soil surface, triggering the process of water erosion and causing serious damage to agricultural areas. This study evaluated losses of soil, water, organic carbon and nutrients in different cultures, bare soil and savanna under natural rain. The experimental design was completely randomized with five treatments (bare soil - BS, cowpea bean - CB, Brachiaria brizantha - BB, corn - CO and natural savanna – SN) with three replications; The treatment of bare soil (BS), followed by the treatment cultivated with cowpea bean (CB) showed higher losses of soil, water, organic carbon and nutrients; The highest losses of soil, water, organic carbon and nutrients in the treatment of bare soil (BS) occurred during the period of greatest erosivity; but for treatments CB, BB and CO, the highest losses occurred during the establishment of the crop, in view of the lower soil cover. Soils cultivated with Brachiaria brizantha - BB, corn - CO and in the Natural Savana - SN area were more efficient in reducing soil and water losses during all months evaluated. Plant cover produced by the (SN) treatment and by the (BB) and (CO) treatments acted to reduce the harmful effects of erosion, minimizing losses of nutrients and organic carbon. The soil should be well protected during periods when rainfall presents the highest values of erosivity index.

Highlights

Water erosion is a physical phenomenon that includes the phases of soil disintegration, transport and deposition, promoted by the action of natural agents such as impact of rainfall and surface runoff (Dechen et al, 2015)
This was because bare soil (BS) did not present any type of cover, which allows the detachment and transport of soil after particle spattering caused by the impact of raindrops; these results are in agreement with those obtained by Bertol et al (2007), Barros et al (2009) and Panachuki et al (2011)
Another factor observed was the treatment of cowpea bean (CB) with 149.01 kg ha-1 month-1, which showed significant differences when compared to other treatments, a fact that may be related to the specific behavior of types of ground cover, or even spacing in relation to the structure of the plant during its initial vegetative cycle, providing greater soil losses in relation to the treatments of Brachiaria brizantha (BB) with 12.74 kg ha-1 month-1, CO with 81.52 kg ha-1 month-1 and SN with 8.07 kg ha-1 month-1 (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Water erosion is a physical phenomenon that includes the phases of soil disintegration, transport and deposition, promoted by the action of natural agents such as impact of rainfall and surface runoff (Dechen et al, 2015). It is the main degradation process of agricultural soils by anthropic interference. Besides causing the degradation of agricultural areas, water erosion results in economic, social and environmental damages that can be minimized with the adoption of soil conservation practices important in the control of erosion (Rabelo and Griebeler, 2012)

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