Soil use and physical-hidric properties on the plateau of Santa Catarina

Abstract

In humic dystrophic inseptisol located at Lages, SC, a study was made of the effect of the use of soil exploited with cultures under conventional soil preparation for fifteen years, with natural forest, with natural pasture trampled by animals and with Pinus elliottii as reforestation crop for fifteen years, under the following physical-hydric properties: soil density, total porosity, distribution of pore size, organic material, stability of aggregates in water, and rate of water infiltration in soil. Cropping with convention tillage for fifteen years resulted in an increase of 30% in soil density, while the rate of infiltration of water in the soil in this treatment was reduced by 88% in relation to the mean of the other treatments. Organic material was reduced by 35% in the convencional preparation in relation to natural forest.