Douglas Siqueira Freitas
Abstract:
The conservation of native and cultivated soils quality in the Cerrado region, seen by a microbiological point of view, has been discussed with both ecological as productive focus. In this work, the quality of native Cerrado was contrasted with that present in no-tillage system (soybean/sorghum), crop-livestock system (soy/pasture), cultivated coffee, eucalyptus forest and not managed grassland, to form the object of study. Since it is laborious to assess all the physical and chemical parameters that surround the quality of soil and, as the community of fungi and bacteria receive direct influence of these factors, the microbiological study can answer questions about the quality of a native or cultivated system. For this study 10 composite samples were collected within each cropping system on a transect shape, lying 20 meters from each other. The microbial community was evaluated for its density from the quantification of microbial biomass carbon, total carbon, microbial biomass nitrogen and total nitrogen. Once is known that the quantitative assessment would not be enough to express the behavior of microbial community, an analysis of the metabolic potential based on degrading capacity of substrates, enzyme assay and basal soil respiration tests were applied. Quantitative data showed that areas of pasture and no-tillage had similar microbial biomass of the soil under native Cerrado (control) but differ significantly in the degradative capacity of substrates and enzyme activity, showing that crops impress selection under microbiota in these areas.
