Effect of management systems and cover crops on organic matter dynamics of soil under vegetables

Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo

Rodrigo Fernandes De Souza²  Cícero Célio De Figueiredo¹  Nuno Rodrigo Madeira¹  Flávia Aparecida De Alcântara¹ 

[1] ,Universidade de BrasíliaBrasília DF

关键词: organic carbon;    oxidizable fractions;    microbial biomass;    humic fractions;    carbono orgânico;    frações oxidáveis;    biomassa microbiana;    frações húmicas;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0100-06832014000300024

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Vegetable production in conservation tillage has increased in Brazil, with positive effects on the soil quality. Since management systems alter the quantity and quality of organic matter, this study evaluated the influence of different management systems and cover crops on the organic matter dynamics of a dystrophic Red Latosol under vegetables. The treatments consisted of the combination of three soil tillage systems: no-tillage (NT), reduced tillage (RT) and conventional tillage (CT) and of two cover crops: maize monoculture and maize-mucuna intercrop. Vegetables were grown in the winter and the cover crops in the summer for straw production. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with four replications. Soil samples were collected between the crop rows in three layers (0.0-0.05, 0.05-0.10, and 0.10-0.30 m) twice: in October, before planting cover crops for straw, and in July, during vegetable cultivation. The total organic carbon (TOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), oxidizable fractions, and the carbon fractions fulvic acid (C FA), humic acid (C HA) and humin (C HUM) were determined. The main changes in these properties occurred in the upper layers (0.0-0.05 and 0.05-0.10 m) where, in general, TOC levels were highest in NT with maize straw. The MBC levels were lowest in CT systems, indicating sensitivity to soil disturbance. Under mucuna, the levels of C HA were lower in RT than NT systems, while the C FA levels were lower in RT than CT. For vegetable production, the C HUM values were lowest in the 0.05-0.10 m layer under CT. With regard to the oxidizable fractions, the tillage systems differed only in the most labile C fractions, with higher levels in NT than CT in the 0.0-0.05 m layer in both summer and winter, with no differences between these systems in the other layers. The cabbage yield was not influenced by the soil management system, but benefited from the mulch production of the preceding maize-mucuna intercrop as cover plant.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
 All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License