Changes on soil carbon and nitrogen stocks due to the land use change in Pará State, Brazil

Author(s)

Mariana Regina Durigan

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Piracicaba.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC)
• Defense date: 2013-04-23

Examining board members

Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri; Cristiano Alberto de Andrade; Jose Alexandre Melo Dematte

• Advisor: Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri

Abstract

The land use change in the Brazilian Amazon has been identified as the main source of CO2 to the atmosphere due to emissions of soil carbon and nitrogenl. The management practice adopted can strongly influence the soil C and N stocks and may works like a sink or source of C and N to the atmosphere. Furthermore, can be changed: the soil fertility and bulk density as well as the SOM fractions and C source of the SOM. With the objective of evaluate the impact of the land use change in eastern Amazonia soil samples were collected in the main land uses in Santarém region, Para State of Brazil, at three depths: 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm. Through the samples was performed the physicochemical characterization of the areas and were determined the soil C and N contents as well the isotopes ? 13C and ? 15N in order to quantify the soil C and N stocks and understand the SOM dynamics and evaluate the SOM origin. For a subset of samples were performed the physical fractionation of SOM and the determination of microbial biomass C to understand how the land use change may interfere in these fractions. Added to these determinations were estimated the emission factors based on the methodology described by the IPCC. Through the physicochemical characterization study areas can be characterized as a clayey loamy soils. The highest values of pH, macronutrients, CEC , sum of bases and base saturation were observed in croplands (CP), suggesting that the use of practices such as fertilization and liming are able to change the soil fertility patterns in the Amazon, increasing their fertility. For C and N stocks can be said that the land use change in the study area is contributing to the loss of soil C and N, especially when the conversion is done for croplands (CP) and grasslands (GS) areas and the value observed for soil C stocks in the 0-30 cm layer in these areas were 49.21 Mg C ha-1 (GS) and 48.60 Mg C ha-1 (CP). The highest ? 13C value was found in GS, -25.08 ?, suggesting that for these areas is occurring an isotope dilution and that part of the soil C is still remaining from forest. The SOM fractions showed changes in the amount of C and in the proportion of light and occluded fractions, especially in the uses CP and GS. The labile SOM fractions (microbial biomass) also showed a large difference between the UF and CP uses (526.21 and 296.78 mg g-1 of dry soil), indicating that CP affects the soil C and N stocks and also the SOM fractions. The emission factors calculated confirm all results observed for the conversion of UF for CP, and for this use the emission factor was 0.93 ± 0.033, and then this was the use that emitted more C. Based on the results we conclude that the introduction of croplands in Santarem region is the main cause of soil C and N loss and consequently contributes more to the greenhouse gases emission. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/04269-9 - Changes in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks as a function of land use change in Pará State, Brazil
• Grantee: Mariana Regina Durigan
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master