Abstract
ABSTRACT Assessing soil quality under different cover crops or different management systems is essential to its conservation. This study aimed to evaluate an Oxisol cultivated with corn and cotton, after different crop successions and under no-tillage system (NTS) and conventional tillage system (CT), through the soil quality index (SQI), using an area of native Cerrado as reference. The study was carried out in the municipality of Luís Eduardo Magalhães, Western Bahia, Brazil. Soil samples with the preserved and non-preserved structure were collected in the layers of 0-0.05 m, 0.05-0.10 m, and 0.10-0.20 m to determine the macroporosity, the soil bulk density, the available water, the levels of total organic carbon, the clay dispersed in water, and the degree of flocculation. The averages of the attributes measured in the treatments and the soil quality index, which was elaborated by the method of deviations of the values of the attributes measured in the treatments concerning the reference area, followed by normalization, were compared by the Duncan test (p ≤ 0.05). The soil under CT, in all treatments, had its quality reduced when compared to the NTS. Also, the SQI used was sensitive to detect the changes caused by the management systems and assign consistent scores to the evaluated soil quality.
Highlights
It is defined as a quality soil, one that can work within the limits of an ecosystem, sustain productivity, maintain environmental quality and promote the health of animal and plants through the performance of ecological functions related to their ability to supply nutrients to plants, support root growth, and development, resist erosion, retain water (Loke et al, 2012; Raiesi, 2017) and influence social aspects, defining itself as one of the most essential natural resources (Chaves et al, 2012 ) essential to life
Soil samples with an unpreserved structure were collected using a shovel, totaling 96 samples (8 treatments x 1 sample x 3 layers x 4 replications) that were used to determine the clay dispersed in water (CDW), the degree of flocculation (DF), and the total organic carbon (TOC) (Teixeira et al, 2017)
Higher values of Ma and CDW and lower values of bulk density (Bd), TOC, DF and available water (AW), in general, obtained in Oxisol grown with corn and cotton under conventional tillage (CT), result from the practices of plowing and harrowing, which break and reorganize the aggregates, favoring its breakdown and transport of mineral and organic particles (Loss et al, 2017), reducing soil quality, contrasting with the values observed in treatments under no-tillage system (NTS) (Tables 2 and 3)
Summary
It is defined as a quality soil, one that can work within the limits of an ecosystem, sustain productivity, maintain environmental quality and promote the health of animal and plants through the performance of ecological functions related to their ability to supply nutrients to plants, support root growth, and development, resist erosion, retain water (Loke et al, 2012; Raiesi, 2017) and influence social aspects, defining itself as one of the most essential natural resources (Chaves et al, 2012 ) essential to life. Several attributes and indexes have been used to assess soil quality. Karlen & Stott (1994) integrated several attributes, obtaining normalized indexes and scores, and Doran & Parkin (1994) used simple multiplicative functions. Maia (2013) used the deviation of the attributes measured in the treatments concerning a reference area, and Reis et al (2019), who used the method of Maia (2013) associated with factor analysis to select a minimum set of attributes and elaborate the SQI for Alfisol in southern Brazil, as well as Vasu et al (2016), who use principal component analysis to develop an SQI for a semiarid region in India. Several attributes and indexes have been used to assess soil quality. Karlen & Stott (1994) integrated several attributes, obtaining normalized indexes and scores, and Doran & Parkin (1994) used simple multiplicative functions. Maia (2013) used the deviation of the attributes measured in the treatments concerning a reference area, and Reis et al (2019), who used the method of Maia (2013) associated with factor analysis to select a minimum set of attributes and elaborate the SQI for Alfisol in southern Brazil, as well as Vasu et al (2016), who use principal component analysis to develop an SQI for a semiarid region in India.
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