Spatial variability of soil attributes in an experimental basin in the semi-arid region of Pernambuco, Brazil

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the spatial patterns of physical and chemical properties of a soil in an experimental basin with an area of 149 km2, located in the municipality of Pesqueira, in the semi-arid region of Pernambuco state (Brazil). Samples were taken in the layers of 0-0.10 and 0.10-0.20 m, at 35 monitoring points distributed in an irregular grid, encompassing the three soil classes present in the basin and commonly found in the semi-arid region. For the attributes of soil texture, organic carbon and bulk density in the layer of 0.10-0.20 m, spatial dependence from medium to strong was detected, ranging from 0.03 to 49.98%. Bulk density in the layer 0-0.10 m, as well as the electrical conductivity, in both layers, showed pure nugget effect, possibly due to insufficient sampling distance to capture spatial dependence. However, geostatistics represented well the spatial dynamics of soil attributes at points where the mapping is possible.