Dinâmica do carbono e atividades enzimáticas em solo do trópico semi-árido sob diferentes usos

Abstract

With the increase in emissions of atmospheric carbon dioxide, it has become increasingly necessary to understand the global carbon cycle, and in particular the role of several potential sinks. Agriculture contributes directly to global emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly in the conversion practices of land use from natural ecosystem to areas of agricultural use. There are few studies on the impacts of forest conversion on agricultural areas and seasonal variation on soil quality in dry tropical environments. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the impact of different management systems and the seasonal variation in soil C and enzymatic activities of the soil in the Brazilian semi-arid region. The study was carried out at the Buenos Aires farm, in the municipality of Serra Talhada - PE. Three soil samples were collected in layers 0-5, 5-10 and 10-20 cm, in April 2014 (PC1), October 2015 (PS) and April 2016 (PC2), in areas with different uses: Preserved area with vegetation native to the Caatinga (CAA); Protected area with Angico (ANG); Protected area with Ipê (IPE); Capoeira area (CAP); And agricultural area with corn (M). Total soil organic carbon (TOC), TOC stocks, oxidizable organic carbon fractions (F1, F2, F3 and F4), chemical fractionation of humic substances (SH) and enzymatic activities of β-glucosidase, urease and Acid phosphatase. The data were submitted to analysis of variance by the Tukey test at the level of 10% of probability in each layer. Multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) was applied separately to each layer. The Caatinga area presented the highest TOC levels, remaining stable over time. The largest stocks of COT were in the Caatinga area. Concentrations of C in fulvic acid (C-AF) were higher in the Caatinga area in the more superficial layer. The concentrations of C in humic acid (C-AH) were lower in the agricultural area compared to the Caatinga area. The Caatinga area presented the highest levels of C in F2, F3 and F4. The enzymatic activities of soil were higher in the Caatinga area, while the smaller activities were detected in the areas of Capoeira and Maize. Enzymatic activities did not show a clear seasonal trend. From the analysis of the main component of the data (ACP), it is possible to notice in the first two layers, in the different periods sampled, a greater distinction between the Caatinga area and the other areas. All indicators used in this study showed that the conversion of native vegetation areas into agricultural areas has negative effects, detectable even in the long term, indicating that the recovery of these areas is a slow process. The results obtained in this study are important for the understanding of the dynamics and variation of C in soil under different management and the effect of seasonality in extremely dry areas with very low rainfall (2014-2016).