title: Soil, water, and nutrient losses from management alternatives for degraded pasture in Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest biome.
abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate sediment, water and nutrient losses from different pasture managements in the Atlantic Rainforest biome. A field study was carried out in Alegre Espiríto Santo, Brazil, on a Xanthic Ferralsol cultivated with braquiaria (Brachiaria brizantha). The six pasture managements studied were: control (CON), chisel (CHI), fertilizer (FER), burned (BUR), plowing and harrowing (PH), and integrated crop-livestock (iCL). Runoff and sediment samples were collected and analyzed for calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), phosphorus (P) and organic carbon contents. Soil physical attributes and above and below biomass were also evaluated. The results indicated that higher water loss was observed for iCL (129.90mm) and CON (123.25mm) managements, and the sediment losses were higher for CON (10.24tha-1) and BUR (5.20tha-1) managements when compared to the other managements. Majority of the nutrients losses occurred in dissolved fraction (99% of Ca, 99% of Mg, 96% of K, and 65% of P), whereas a significant fraction of organic carbon (80%) loss occurred in a particulate form. Except for P, other nutrients (Ca, Mg and K) and organic carbon losses were higher in coarse sediment compared to fine sediment. The greater losses of sediment, organic carbon, and nutrients were observed for CON followed by BUR management (p<0.05). Our findings indicated that the traditional pasture management adopted in the Atlantic Rainforest needs to be rethought and burned management should be avoided. Based on the water, soil, and nutrient losses from various practices, to reduce pasture degradation, farmers should adopt edaphic practices by applying lime and fertilize to improve pasture growth and soil cover, and reducing soil erosion in the hilly Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest biome.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Department of Plant Production, Alto Universitário, Gurarema s/n, Alegre 29500-000, ES, Brazil. Electronic address: rocha.pjunior@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Paulo Roberto da
authors.initials: PRD
authors.lastname: Rocha Junior
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Department of Plant Production, Alto Universitário, Gurarema s/n, Alegre 29500-000, ES, Brazil.
authors.forename: Felipe Vaz
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Department of Plant Production, Alto Universitário, Gurarema s/n, Alegre 29500-000, ES, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eduardo de Sá
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Mendonça
authors.affiliation: Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Rua Jardim Botânico 1024, Jardim Botânico, 24460-000 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Guilherme Kangussú
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Donagemma
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Departament of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs s/n, Campus Universitário, 36570-900 Viçosa, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Raphael Bragança Alves
authors.initials: RBA
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 338 Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building, 1304 W. Pennsylvania Avenue, 61801 Urbana, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Rabin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhattharai
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 338 Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building, 1304 W. Pennsylvania Avenue, 61801 Urbana, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Prasanta Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Kalita
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D001938:Brazil; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis; D065947:Rainforest; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D014867:Water; D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Nutrients; Pasture management; Runoff; Soil erosion; Soil quality; Tropical soil management