Spatial and temporal variability of soil water repellency of Amazonian pastures
Mark S. Johnson A D , Johannes Lehmann A , Tammo S. Steenhuis B , Luciélio Vargem de Oliveira C and Erick C. M. Fernandes AA Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
B Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
C EMPAER-MT Empresa Matogrossense de Pesquisa, Assistência e Extensão Rural, Castanheira, MT, Brazil.
D Corresponding author. Email: msj8@cornell.edu
Australian Journal of Soil Research 43(3) 319-326 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR04097
Submitted: 25 January 2004 Accepted: 1 February 2005 Published: 25 May 2005
Abstract
Fire is commonly used to establish and maintain pastures in the Amazon. Fire is also known to induce soil water repellency but few published data exist for the humid tropics. The objectives of this study were to characterise the intensity and spatial variability of water repellency on previously burned pasture soils in the Amazon, and its effect on the nutrient status of the forage grass Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst.) Stapf. Surface soils of pastures and forests in north-western Mato Grosso, Brazil, were found to exhibit soil water repellency using MED and WDPT tests. Soil water repellency was found only within 0–0.01 m of the mineral soil surface, with soil below 0.01 m found to be hydrophilic in all cases.
Spatial variability of repellency was high for both pasture and forest soils. For pasture soils, soil water repellency was strongest on recently burned pastures, which exhibited some extremely high values (MED > 8 m). Repellency decreased rapidly with time following burning. Increasing soil water repellency was associated with decreasing N: P ratios of B. brizantha above-ground biomass (r2 = 0.66, P = 0.004). These findings indicate that soil water repellency and pasture productivity are inversely related. Since pasture abandonment fuels continued deforestation, disrupting the processes causing pasture degradation may lead to more sustainable land use in the Amazon.
Additional keywords: hydrophobicity, Brachiaria brizantha, burning, N : P, Oxisol, Ultisol.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful for the support provided by the Secretaria de Agricultura de Castanheira, Mato Grosso, and for the cooperation of the farmers and ranchers in the area. The authors appreciate the financial support provided by the Cornell Program on Biogeochemistry, the Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell University, ProNatura/Brazil, and an Andrew W. Mellon Student Research Grant, and also the encouragement and input of Dr Stefan Doerr in this work. The comments provided by two anonymous reviewers were very helpful in improving the paper.
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