Influence of potassium fertilization and hydraulic redistribution by deep roots on the availability of water and nutrients from eucalyptus

• Grant number: 13/25998-4
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): August 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Cassio Hamilton Abreu Junior
• Grantee: Verónica Asensio Fandiño
• Home Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In order to attend the increasing demand for wood products, areas of fast-growing plantations are expanding in Brazil. Brazilian eucalypt plantations can be used as a model of fast-growth for other regions in the world. With the aim to improve the sustainability of these plantations, it is necessary to gain insight into their behavior and impact on the availability of soil water and nutrients. Brazilian plantations show very fast growth despite the low fertility of soils. It is expected that hydraulic redistribution (HR) by deep roots in these ecosystems can increase the uptake of water and nutrients by trees and help keeping superficial roots alive during dry periods. The main objective of this project is to assess the role of very deep roots in eucalypt plantations on water fluxes in both trees and soils. It will be also investigated whether the use of potassium fertilizer can reduce water stress, since this element is involved in the regulation of the physiological processes of water losses in plants. The present project is an extension of Franco-Brazilian cooperation with Spain, being of high relevance in the exchange of information about the methods used by the research groups of USP, UNESP and Embrapa in Brazil, the Université de Bordeaux, UMR TCEM INRA and the CIRAD in France, as well as the department of Biologia Vegetal e Ciência do Solo from the Universidade de Vigo in Spain. This cooperation will consist in the implementation of field experiments with tree species, data acquisition, development of ecophysiological models, publication of international papers and training of highly qualified human resources.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PRADIER, CELINE; HINSINGER, PHILIPPE; LACLAU, JEAN-PAUL; BOUILLET, JEAN-PIERRE; GUERRINI, IRAE AMARAL; MORAES GONCALVES, JOSE LEONARDO; ASENSIO, VERONICA; ABREU-JUNIOR, CASSIO H.; JOURDAN, CHRISTOPHE. Rainfall reduction impacts rhizosphere biogeochemistry in eucalypts grown in a deep Ferralsol in Brazil. PLANT AND SOIL, v. 414, n. 1-2, p. 339-354, MAY 2017. Web of Science Citations: 5.