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| Author(s): |
Rodrigo Vianei Czycza
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | Piracicaba. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) |
| Defense date: | 2010-02-23 |
| Examining board members: |
Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri;
Carlos Eduardo Faroni;
Debora Marcondes Bastos Pereira Milori
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| Advisor: | Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri |
| Abstract | |
There is a trend for expansion in the area cultivated with sugarcane, mainly due to the increase in global demand for biofuels. Due to economic and legal reasons unburned sugarcane harvesting system is increasing rapidly. However, little is known about the sugarcane trash effect on carbon dynamics and stability in soils. The increase in soil carbon content can promote benefits on agronomic, environmental and also on economic aspects. In this context, the objective of this study was to quantify and compare soil carbon and nitrogen stocks and to evaluate soil organic matter quality through the characterization of humic substances in areas cultivated with sugarcane under burned and unburned harvesting system. Chronosequences with 6 and 12 years under burned and unburned sugarcane and an adjacent area under native vegetation (used as reference) were evaluated. The areas were located at Sao Martinho Mill, in Pradopolis, Sao Paulo State. The soil is classified as clayey Oxisol (Latossolo Vermelho distroférico de textura muito argilosa). Unburned sugarcane soils presented higher carbon stocks in all evaluated layers compared to the burned areas. The increments of 1.77 and 0.25 Mg ha-1 year-1 on soil carbon and soil nitrogen, respectively, were observed between the 6 and 12 years under unburned sugarcane in the 0-30 cm layer. No significant differences were observed for soil chemical attributes neither for the spectroscopic (fluorescence) analyses due to the harvesting system. Spectroscopic results showed no differences on humification degrees between areas with 12 years under sugarcane. The area with 19 years under unburned sugarcane showed higher humification degree for the 0- 10 and 10-20 cm layers in comparison with the other evaluated areas, not only for the humic acid but also for the fulvic acid. Fourier Transformed Infrared analyses on humic acids indicated higher concentrations of phenolic groups and carboxylic acids in the area under 19-year old unburned sugarcane and lower values in the native vegetation for the two evaluated soil layers. For the fulvic acids no differences were observed among the evaluated areas. (AU) | |