Soil physical indicators of management systems in traditional agricultural areas under manure application

ABSTRACT Studies of the successive application of manure as fertilizer and its combined effect with long-term soil management systems are important to the identification of the interdependence of physical attributes. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the physical properties of a Rhodic Kandiudox under management systems employing successive applications of pig slurry and poultry litter, and select physical indicators that distinguish these systems using canonical discriminant analysis (CDA). The systems consisting of treatments including land use, management and the application time of organic fertilizers are described as follows: silage maize under no-tillage (NT-M7 years); silage maize under conventional tillage (CT-M20 years); annual pasture with chisel plowing (CP-P3 years); annual pasture with chisel plowing (CP-P15 years); perennial pasture without tillage (NT-PP20 years); and no-tillage yerba mate (NT-YM20 years) and were compared with native forest (NF) and native pasture (NP). Soil samples were collected from the layers at the following depths: 0.0-0.05, 0.05-0.10, and 0.10-0.20 m, and were analyzed for bulk density, porosity, aggregation, flocculation, penetration resistance, water availability and total clay content. Canonical discriminant analysis was an important tool in the study of physical indicators of soil quality. Organic fertilization, along with soil management, influences soil structure and its porosity. Total porosity was the most important physical property in the distinction of areas with management systems and application times of manure for the 0.0-0.05 and 0.10-0.20 m layers. Soil aeration and micropores differentiated areas in the 0.05-0.10 m layer. Animal trampling and machinery traffic were the main factors inducing compaction of this clayey soil.