Carbono orgânico total e frações da matéria orgânica do solo na conversão de cana-de-açucar para eucalipto em Alagoas

Abstract

The present work had as objective to determine the changes in soil carbon stocks and to evaluate soil organic matter dynamics in eucalyptus forests implanted from the sugarcane area in the state of Alagoas. The study was based on the hypothesis that the conversion of sugarcane with burning harvest system to eucalyptus crop in Alagoas conditions promotes the improvement of the soil quality through the increase of soil organic carbon stocks and the improvement of the soil organic matter dynamic. Therefore, four situations were selected: i) area cultivated with sugarcane (Cana) for approximately 20 years with the manual harvesting and burning system, which was used as reference area; (ii) area under eucalyptus with one year (E1); (iii) area under eucalyptus with three years (E3); iv) area under eucalyptus with six years (E6). Soil samples were collected and analyzed at six depths 0-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-60 and 60-80 cm. Soil density, particle size, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, microbial carbon, mineralizable carbon, and oxidizable carbon were determined. The results showed that the conversion of sugarcane with manual harvesting and burning for eucalyptus cultivation was efficient in promoting the soil carbon sequestration, as well as improving the soil quality by increasing the levels of soil organic matter and improve their dynamics. More specifically, eucalyptus cultivation with three and six years promoted a substantial increase in soil organic carbon stocks, there was also an increase in the light fraction of organic matter in the soil, and an improvement in the biological indicator qCO2 (metabolic quotient) which suggests that there is a more balanced and favorable environment for soil microbial activity. It is also worth mentioning the decrease in soil density in the treatments E3 and E6, which is another indication of the benefits of the increase in SOM.