Organic matter and physical properties of a Red Latosol under an integrated crop-livestock-forestry system

Abstract

Soil management practices and uses, in the integrated crop-livestock-forestry (ICLF) production system, influence the soil properties in different ways. This study aimed to assess the organic matter content and physical properties of a Red Latosol (Oxisol), in the forestry and crop components of an ICLF system. A split-plot randomized block design was used, with six blocks containing two main plots (forestry and crop) and eight split plots (sampled soil layers), totaling 16 treatments and 96 samples. The following variables were analyzed: organic matter, soil density, relative density, pore size distribution, Atterberg limits and aggregate stability. The presence of the forestry component improves the mean weight and geometric mean diameters, as well as the aggregates stability index of the Red Latosol, at five years after the implementation of the system. The aggregates stability in water and the Atterberg limits are the soil physical properties that better express the changes in the soil, with the inclusion of the forestry component. Including this component in the production system, throughout the years (> 5 years), improves the soil properties.