Chemical Characteristics of Soil and of the Earthworm Casts in Commercial Plantation of Eucalyptus grandis

The chemical characteristics of earthworm casts and a soil sample from a commercial plantation of Eucalyptus grandis aged 3 years old near the city of Mogi-Guaçu in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, were compared. The casts were collected at the surface of the mineral soil, while the soil was collecte...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Quadros, Ruth Maria Bianchini de, Bellote, Antonio Francisco Jurado, Dionísio, Jair Alves
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versão publicada
Data de publicação:2002
País:Brasil
Recursos:Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa)
Repositório:Pesquisa Florestal Brasileira (Online)
Idioma:português
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/1748
Acesso em linha:https://pfb.sede.embrapa.br/pfb/article/view/1748
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Eucalyptus
Earthworm casts
Nutrient cycling
Excrementos de minhocas
Ciclagem de nutrientes
Descrição
Resumo:The chemical characteristics of earthworm casts and a soil sample from a commercial plantation of Eucalyptus grandis aged 3 years old near the city of Mogi-Guaçu in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, were compared. The casts were collected at the surface of the mineral soil, while the soil was collected at depths of 0 - 5; 5 - 10; 10 - 20 and 20 - 30 cm. The Ca+2 and Mg+2 contents of casts, in comparison to the 0 to 5 cm soil depth, were 11 times higher,while the K+ contents were 3 times higher. In addition, the cation exchange capacity (CEC) and C contents were 4.41 and 2.83 more concentrated in the casts, respectively. It was observed a decrease in Aluminum saturation (m%) from 73%, in the depth of the 0-5 cm, to 45% in the casts. While the chemical characteristics of the native earthworm casts represent a distinct improvement over the soil, it remains to be seen what influence, if any, this has on the growth and nutrition of E. grandis.