Frações da matéria orgãnica e atributos biológicos do solo em veredas conservadas e antropizadas no bioma cerrado

Abstract

Veredas (a type of wetland) are humid ecosystems, generally associated to hydromorphic soils and shallow water table, which occur frequently in the neighborhood of the springs and watercourses in the Cerrado region. The objective of this work was to study the soil of wetlands located in conserved and altered environments (agricultural areas and pastures), by determining the organic matter fractions, and biological attributes of the soil. The study was carried out in the central region of Cerrado biome, in the state of Goiás (Brazil), in wetlands situated in the City of Bela Vista de Goiás. Three wetlands were selected for soil sampling, as follows: a preserved wetland, surrounded by natural vegetation (cerrado); an area disturbed, with the occurrence of pasture around it; and another wetland also disturbed, with the occurrence of annual crops (agriculture) in its surroundings. The samplings were taken during the dry season, in months of July and August of 2012, along reference lines arranged according to their position in the slope, in the upper, middle and lower position, in approximate direction of the drain line of the wetland. Samples were collected at two depths: 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm. The variables studied were: Total soil organic carbon and nitrogen, and soil C:N ratio; C and N contents, and C:N ratios of the particulate and mineral-associated organic matter; fulvic acid, humic acid and humin, and humic acids to fulvic acids ratio, C contents of humic substances and its ratio to total soil organic carbon; carbon and nitrogen contents, and C:N ratio of the microbial biomass; microbial quotient; microbial biomass N to soil total nitrogen ratio; basal soil respiration; metabolic quotient; and fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrolytic activities in soil. In the lower position of slope the total soil organic C and N contents (in both depths), and levels of organic carbon in particulate organic matter, humic substances and soil microbial biomass (to 10 cm depth only), are smaller in the agriculture surrounding environment. Also in the lower position of slope in the topsoil, the soil total N, and N levels in particulate organic matter and microbial biomass are significantly larger in the wetland neighboring pastures. In the topsoil, the organic C contents of the mineral-associated soil organic matter fraction are larger in the conserved ecosystem, in all slope positions. In general, the farming in the vicinity of the wetlands promoted changes in soil microbial and biochemical attributes, as well as those related to soil organic matter in these ecosystems, with changes in C and N biogeochemistry processes. These changes are especially pronounced in the lower position of the slopes, with clear differences also between this lower zone and the highest slope positions (upper and middle) of the wetlands.