Physical attributes in a Hapludox after ten years of management with crop rotation systems in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Crop rotation and cover crops may have direct and or indirect effects on soil physical properties. To study these effects,
physical analyzes were performed on soil samples collected in the beginning of the eleventh year of conducting an experiment
with crop rotation systems, using as reference the soil kept continuously without vegetation (bare soil). The following variables
were analysed: saturated hydraulic conductivity and attributes related to aggregation and aggregate stability in undisturbed
samples collected in two layers, and soil density, penetration resistance and porosity in undisturbed samples collected in four
layers. Simple correlations and regressions between chemical and physical soil attributes were determined. The crop rotation
systems had higher aggregate stability and volume of micropores and lower bulk density and total porosity in the superficial
layer, which is related to the higher amount of organic material added by crops. On the other hand, they did not alter the
saturated hydraulic conductivity, macroporosity and penetration resistance in all of the soil layers sampled.