Effects of soil land use on microbial activity and catabolic diversity

Author(s)

André Mancebo Mazzetto

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Piracicaba.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC)
• Defense date: 2010-01-29

Examining board members

Brigitte Josefine Feigl; Tsai Siu Mui; Newton La Scala Junior

• Advisor: Brigitte Josefine Feigl

Abstract

The increasing demand for food creates environmental problems, mainly due to the removal of native vegetation cover for agriculture expansion in Brazil. These changes in land use leads to changes in the soil organic matter dynamics. The vegetation type also affects the soil biota and, therefore, its change causes modifications in the microbial biomass, as shown by studies involving deforestation. Microorganisms represent the most biological and physiological diverse in soil, as well as being responsible for more than 95% of the decomposition and nutrient cycling. For this reason, the demand for fast and reliable indicators to detect changes in soil quality, especially for those based on micro-organisms has been growing continuously. The main objective in this research was to check the differentiation of patterns in activity and functional diversity of soil microbial biomass under natural vegetation, pastures and agricultural systems in use. The area covered by this study corresponds to the states of Rondônia (RO) and Mato Grosso (MT), which was divided into 11 ecoregions relatively homogeneous in terms of soil, vegetation, geology, climate and landscape. A canonical variate analysis was used in some physical, chemical and microbiological factors in each ecoregion and land use, looking for patterns and variables that can differentiate them. The native areas showed distinct patterns in the dynamics of microbiological attributes mainly related to the amount of litter in each biome studied. For the disturbed areas, there were similar results between pastures and native areas, significantly different from the results obtained in agricultural areas, which due to differences in management and kind of cultures analyzed showed a great variability in its final result. The results support the recommendation for use of microbiological attributes as indicators of land use change, combined with chemical and physical factors. The substrate-induced respiration (or catabolic diversity) was efficient in the separation of land uses and ecoregions. These findings support the idea that specific land uses have specific groups of microbial biomass, regardless soil type, climate or other external influences. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 07/06126-5 - Effects of soil land use on soil microbial activity and catabolic diversity.
• Grantee: André Mancebo Mazzetto
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master