Physical and chemical properties of soils in different physiographic environments in the southern Amazonas region

Abstract

The Amazon region has a great diversity of landscapes such as forests galleries, natural fields (“Cerrados Amazônicos”), dense forest, these environments made possible the formation of a broad class of soils over time. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical and chemical properties of soils in different physiographic environments in southern Amazonas, Brazil. Three areas of representative physiographies were selected, all of them in natural conditions: natural field / forest and floodplain / dry land transitions, and corrugated relief areas. Soil samples were collected in layers of 0.0 to 0.20 and 0.80-1.0 m. From the samples collected the following physical analyzes were performed: particle size, bulk density, particle density, total porosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity; and chemical: exchangeable calcium, magnesium, aluminum and potassium available, phosphorus, potential acidity, pH and organic carbon. Based on the results of chemical analysis were calculated the sum of bases and base saturation. The results were submitted to multivariate statistics analysis, at the discretion of the principal component analysis (PCA). From the results it is clear that different physiographic environments studied influence the formation of different soil classes, featuring the diversity of Amazonian soils. The PCA allowed the distinction and formation of different similarity groups, thus enabling to relate the physical and chemical properties with the physiographic formation in which they are inserted.

Keywords

• amazonian soils
• multivariate analysis
• soil attributes