Soil Carbon Stock and Indices in Sandy Soil Affected by Eucalyptus Harvest Residue Management in the South of Brazil
Jackson Freitas Brilhante de São José,
Luciano Kayser Vargas,
Bruno Britto Lisboa,
Frederico Costa Beber Vieira,
Josiléia Acordi Zanatta,
Elias Frank Araujo,
Cimelio Bayer
Affiliations
Jackson Freitas Brilhante de São José
Department of Agricultural Research and Diagnosis, Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Sustainable Production and Irrigation of Rio Grande do Sul. 570, Porto Alegre 90130-060, Brazil
Luciano Kayser Vargas
Department of Agricultural Research and Diagnosis, Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Sustainable Production and Irrigation of Rio Grande do Sul. 570, Porto Alegre 90130-060, Brazil
Bruno Britto Lisboa
Department of Agricultural Research and Diagnosis, Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Sustainable Production and Irrigation of Rio Grande do Sul. 570, Porto Alegre 90130-060, Brazil
Frederico Costa Beber Vieira
Soil and Forest Ecology Laboratory, Universidade Federal Do Pampa, São Gabriel 97307-020, Brazil
Josiléia Acordi Zanatta
Embrapa Floretas, Estrada da Ribeira, Colombo 83411-000, Brazil
Elias Frank Araujo
CMPC, Celulose Riograndense, Rua São Geraldo, Guaíba 92703-470, Brazil
Cimelio Bayer
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 91540-000, Brazil
There has been limited research on the effect of eucalyptus harvest residue management on soil organic carbon (SOC) in subtropical environments. This research evaluated the effect on soil C indices of the following eucalyptus harvest residue managements: AR, with all forest remnants left on the soil; NB, where bark was removed; NBr, in which branches were removed; NR, which removed all residues; and NRs, which is same as NR but also used a shade net to prevent the litter from the new plantation from reaching the soil surface. C stocks within the soil depths of 0–20 cm and 0–100 cm increased linearly with the C input from eucalyptus harvest residues. In the layer of 0–20 cm, the lowest soil C retention rate was 0.23 Mg ha−1 year−1, in the NR treatment, while in the AR treatment, the retention rate was 0.68 Mg ha−1 year−1. In the 0–100 cm layer, the highest C retention rate was obtained in the AR (1.47 Mg ha−1 year−1). The residues showed a high humification coefficient (k1 = 0.23) and a high soil organic matter decomposition rate (k2 = 0.10). The carbon management index showed a close relationship with the C input and tree diameter at breast height.
