Chemical, physical, and biological properties of soil with pastures recovered by integration crop-livestock system in Eastern Amazon

Soil quality can be understood as its capacity to provide several essential services within the ecosystem and has been used to understand the impact of different managements, providing information that proves the benefits and your maintenance of the agroecosystem. To understand the impact of different managements, this study aimed to compare the chemical, physical, and biological soil properties in pasture areas managed with different recovery times in an integrated crop-livestock system about perennial pastures and secondary forest. The following management systems were evaluated: Secondary Forest (SF), Perennial Pasture (PP), pasture recovered to five years through the intercropping corn + Brachiaria brizantha (Palisade grass) (ICL5), and pasture recovered to eight years through the intercropping corn + Brachiaria brizantha (Palisade grass) (ICL8). Different soil properties were evaluated, namely: Chemical: pH, H+Al, Al3+, P, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, TOC, SB, CEC, V, and m; Physical: soil bulk density (Bd), total porosity (Tp), macroporosity (Ma), microporosity (Mi), soil resistance to penetration (Pr), and gravimetric soil water content (GWc); and biological: soil microbial biomass carbon (SMB-C), basal soil respiration (BSR), metabolic quotient (qCO2), and microbial quotient (qMic). Perennial pasture and ICL8 areas were the ones that most contributed to the increase in nutrients (Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+), TOC and sorption complex. The ICL8 area showed the best results in soil physical variables Ma, Tp, Pr, and GWc were the best results for the ICL8 area. Secondary forest and ICL8 areas presented the best results from SMB-C and qMic. Between periods of pasture recovery through the integration of crops and livestock, the longer the recovery time, the greater its beneficial effects on the different chemical, physical and biological soil properties, overcoming secondary forest and perennial pasture.

Automated summary

This study aimed to compare the chemical, physical, and biological soil properties in pasture areas managed with different recovery times. The results showed that the longer the recovery time, the greater the beneficial effects on the different soil properties. The pasture recovered to eight years exhibited the best soil physical variables.