Impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions

Tropical regions have been considered the world's primary agricultural frontier; however, some physico-chemical deficiencies, such as low soil organic matter content, poor soil structure, high erodibility, soil acidity, and aluminum toxicity, have affected their productive capacity. Lime and gy...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Carmeis Filho, Antonio C.A., Crusciol, Carlos A. C., Guimarães, Tiara M., Calonego, Juliano C., Mooney, Sacha J.
Format: Article
Published: Public Library of Science 2016
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39921/
_version_ 1848795946070048768
author Carmeis Filho, Antonio C.A.
Crusciol, Carlos A. C.
Guimarães, Tiara M.
Calonego, Juliano C.
Mooney, Sacha J.
author_facet Carmeis Filho, Antonio C.A.
Crusciol, Carlos A. C.
Guimarães, Tiara M.
Calonego, Juliano C.
Mooney, Sacha J.
author_sort Carmeis Filho, Antonio C.A.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Tropical regions have been considered the world's primary agricultural frontier; however, some physico-chemical deficiencies, such as low soil organic matter content, poor soil structure, high erodibility, soil acidity, and aluminum toxicity, have affected their productive capacity. Lime and gypsum are commonly used to improve soil chemical fertility, but no information exists about the long-term effects of these products on the physical attributes and C protection mechanisms of highly weathered Oxisols. A field trial was conducted in a sandy clay loam (kaolinitic, thermic Typic Haplorthox) under a no-tillage system for 12 years. The trial consisted of four treatments: a control with no soil amendment application, the application of 2.1 Mg ha-1 phosphogypsum, the application of 2.0 Mg ha-1 lime, and the application of lime + phosphogypsum (2.0 + 2.1 Mg ha-1, respectively). Since the experiment was established in 2002, the rates have been applied three times (2002, 2004, and 2010). Surface liming effectively increased water-stable aggregates > 2.0 mm at a depth of up to 0.2 m; however, the association with phosphogypsum was considered a good strategy to improve the macroaggregate stability in subsoil layers (0.20 to 0.40 m). Consequently, both soil amendments applied together increased the mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD) in all soil layers, with increases of up to 118 and 89%, respectively, according to the soil layer. The formation and stabilization of larger aggregates contributed to a higher accumulation of total organic carbon (TOC) on these structures. In addition to TOC, the MWD and aggregate stability index were positively correlated with Ca2+ and Mg2+ levels and base saturation. Consequently, the increase observed in the aggregate size class resulted in a better organization of soil particles, increasing the macroporosity and reducing the soil bulk density and penetration resistance. Therefore, adequate soil chemical management plays a fundamental role in improving the soil's physical attributes in tropical areas under conservative management and highly affected by compaction caused by intensive farming.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:40:09Z
format Article
id nottingham-39921
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:40:09Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Public Library of Science
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-399212020-05-04T18:26:03Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39921/ Impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions Carmeis Filho, Antonio C.A. Crusciol, Carlos A. C. Guimarães, Tiara M. Calonego, Juliano C. Mooney, Sacha J. Tropical regions have been considered the world's primary agricultural frontier; however, some physico-chemical deficiencies, such as low soil organic matter content, poor soil structure, high erodibility, soil acidity, and aluminum toxicity, have affected their productive capacity. Lime and gypsum are commonly used to improve soil chemical fertility, but no information exists about the long-term effects of these products on the physical attributes and C protection mechanisms of highly weathered Oxisols. A field trial was conducted in a sandy clay loam (kaolinitic, thermic Typic Haplorthox) under a no-tillage system for 12 years. The trial consisted of four treatments: a control with no soil amendment application, the application of 2.1 Mg ha-1 phosphogypsum, the application of 2.0 Mg ha-1 lime, and the application of lime + phosphogypsum (2.0 + 2.1 Mg ha-1, respectively). Since the experiment was established in 2002, the rates have been applied three times (2002, 2004, and 2010). Surface liming effectively increased water-stable aggregates > 2.0 mm at a depth of up to 0.2 m; however, the association with phosphogypsum was considered a good strategy to improve the macroaggregate stability in subsoil layers (0.20 to 0.40 m). Consequently, both soil amendments applied together increased the mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD) in all soil layers, with increases of up to 118 and 89%, respectively, according to the soil layer. The formation and stabilization of larger aggregates contributed to a higher accumulation of total organic carbon (TOC) on these structures. In addition to TOC, the MWD and aggregate stability index were positively correlated with Ca2+ and Mg2+ levels and base saturation. Consequently, the increase observed in the aggregate size class resulted in a better organization of soil particles, increasing the macroporosity and reducing the soil bulk density and penetration resistance. Therefore, adequate soil chemical management plays a fundamental role in improving the soil's physical attributes in tropical areas under conservative management and highly affected by compaction caused by intensive farming. Public Library of Science 2016-12-13 Article PeerReviewed Carmeis Filho, Antonio C.A., Crusciol, Carlos A. C., Guimarães, Tiara M., Calonego, Juliano C. and Mooney, Sacha J. (2016) Impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions. PLoS ONE, 11 (12). e0167564. ISSN 1932-6203 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0167564 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0167564 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0167564
spellingShingle Carmeis Filho, Antonio C.A.
Crusciol, Carlos A. C.
Guimarães, Tiara M.
Calonego, Juliano C.
Mooney, Sacha J.
Impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions
title Impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions
title_full Impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions
title_fullStr Impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions
title_full_unstemmed Impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions
title_short Impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions
title_sort impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39921/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39921/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39921/