ABSTRACT:The removal of original vegetation for crops and pasture production and then followed by natural regeneration is a standard practice in the Atlantic Forest, which has produced patches with different degrees of degradation and regeneration across the landscape. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of replacement of native forest by pasture and natural regeneration of vegetation on soil and on soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics in the dry and rainy season in an Atlantic Forest fragment in Passa Vinte, Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil. Soil samples were collected in the rainy and dry season, at a depth of 0.00-0.05 m. The variables determined were total organic carbon (TOC) and particle-size fractions of SOM [particulate organic carbon

The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of the conversion of forest systems to agricultural systems in the organic matter compartments, aggregation and soil chemical attributes, in the Atlantic Forest. The evaluated systems were: annual crop (ACr); perennial agriculture (PAg); pasture; and secondary forest early (SFES), medium (SFMS), and advanced stage (SFAS). Soil samples were collected at the layer of 0-5 cm depth and quantified the total organic carbon (TOC), C of humic substances, oxidizable C, granulometric fractions of soil organic matter (SOM), soil chemical attributes, soil aggregation and glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP-total and GRSP-easily extractable) in different aggregate classes. It was observed a reduction of the TOC, particulate organic carbon (POC), humic substances and oxidizable C in the PAg and ACr areas comparing to pasture and forest systems. Moreover, the pH values increased whereas P content decreased in comparison with SFAS. As for aggregation, the PAg and the ACr decreased by around 35% and 20% the mean weight diameter of aggregates, respectively, compared to the average values found in the forestry systems, and 34% and 45%, respectively in relation to pasture. In general, GRSP-total were reduced by agriculture. Thus, it appears that the agriculture which has been practiced is altering negatively the soil chemical, physical and biological attributes.

ABSTRACT:The objective of this study was to characterize the physical parameters of the Cachimbal River Watershed, located in Pinheiral, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, and to use the resulting data to identify degradation risks. To achieve this purpose, a Hydrologically Consistent Digital Elevation Model (HCDEM) was generated using contour line, river path, and area boundary data extracted from topographic maps of the cities of Volta Redonda (Page SF-23-ZAV-2) and Piraí (Page SF-23-Z-VI-1). These maps were obtained from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and were rendered at a scale of 1:50,000 ArcGISs version 10.5 software was used to generate the HCDEM, from which the physical parameters were extracted. Results showed that the altitude of the area ranges from 360 m to 740 m, while the slope varies heterogeneously from 6% to 28%. The sub-basin has a total area of 104.15 km², a perimeter of 63.41 km, a main channel length of 21.79 km, and a 5th-order dendritic drainage network. Other parameters include a compactness coefficient of 1.74, a form factor of 0.34, and a circularity ratio of 0.33. These values indicate that the sub-basin is not prone to floods because of its elongated shape. Meanwhile, drainage density was 2.60 km km -2 , while river density was 5.5 channels km -2 ; these parameters indicate excellent performance and high potential to generate new channels. Although the roughness coefficient indicates that the area is suitable for agricultural development, the roughness index demonstrates the need to adopt more nuanced agricultural practices that account for the particular features of the area, such as topographic variation and soil characteristics.

ResumoO objetivo do estudo foi avaliar o padrão de deposição anual de serapilheira, carbono orgânico (CO) e nitrogênio (N) entre as áreas de floresta secundária (FS) e plantios de sabiá (Mimosa caesalpinaefolia Benth.) e andiroba (Carapa guianenses Aubl.) (ambos os plantios com regeneração natural) na Floresta Nacional Mário Xavier, no município de Seropédica (RJ). Para a avaliação anual de deposição da serapilheira foram usados coletores circulares durante um ano (de outubro de 2006 a setembro de 2007). Os valores de aporte total de serapilheira foram 8,82, 8,35 e 6,95 Mg ha -1 ano -1 para as áreas de plantio de M. caesalpinaeolia, plantio de C. guianenses e floresta secundária, respectivamente. O verão foi a única estação onde não foram observadas diferenças significativas nos aportes de serapilheira entre as áreas. As frações folha e fruto, em média, foram as que contribuíram com maior e menor aporte de material decíduo, respectivamente, nas três áreas avaliadas. Observou-se que as áreas de plantios de M. caesalpinaefolia e C. guianenses contribuíram com fluxo de CO e N para o solo via serapilheira semelhante a FS. Correlações entre as taxas de deposição serapilheira e as variáveis climáticas foram observadas apenas nas áreas de floresta secundária (correlação negativa com a temperatura e precipitação) e M. caesalpinaefolia (correlação negativa com a precipitação). Palavras-chave: Carapa guianenses; Mimosa caesalpinaefolia; carbono da serapilheira. AbstractLitter and carbon deposition in secondary forest, Sabia and Andiroba plantations. The aim of the study was to evaluate the pattern of annual litter, organic carbon (OC) and nitrogen (N) between the secondary forest (SF) and sabia plantations (Mimosa caesalpinaefolia Benth.) and andiroba (Carapa Guyanese Aubl.) (both plantings with natural regeneration) the National Forest Mario Xavier, in the municipality of Seropédica (RJ). For the annual assessment of deposition of litter they were used circular collectors during one year (October 2006 to September 2007. The total litter input values were 8.82, 8.35 and 6.95 Mg ha -1 year -1 in the areas of planting M. caesalpinaeolia, planting C. Guyanese and secondary forest, respectively. Summer is the only season where there were no significant differences in litter contributions between areas. The leaf fractions and fruit, on average, were those that contributed to higher and lower input material deciduous, respectively, in the three areas assessed. It was observed that the planting areas M. caesalpinaefolia and C. guianenses contributed with CO and N flowing into the soil through litter similar to SF. Correlations between litter deposition rates and climate variables were observed only in the secondary forest (negative correlation with temperature and precipitation) and M. caesalpinaefolia (negative correlation with precipitation).

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of natural pasture and spontaneous regeneration on soil chemical properties and epigeal fauna community using a secondary Atlantic Forest as reference. The study areas were located in Passa Vinte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. In each study area, pitfall traps were used to sample epigeal fauna in the dry and rainy seasons. Earth samples were collected at a depth of 0-5 cm in the dry and rainy seasons for analysis of chemical attributes. The pasture and regeneration areas showed an overall activity of epigeal fauna and functional groups similar to the forest area. However, the diversity evaluated by the Shannon and Pielou evenness indices and the total richness were lower than the observed in the forest. The best fertility attributes were observed in the forest and pasture areas.

The Atlantic Forest degradation and fragmentation imposes the need for soil and vegetation assessments in order to estimate the environmental vulnerability of the remnants. The objective of this study was to evaluate the georadar applications in areas of Atlantic Forest under different forms of use in Pinheiral, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, through penetrometer impact and ground penetrating radar (GPR). Forest fragments at different stages of regeneration, and pasture and agriculture (perennial and annual) areas were selected for study. Soil characterization was performed through measurements of soil resistance to penetration (SRP) with an impact penetrometer, and the soil properties with a ground penetrating radar (georadar). SRP increased in the forest areas at initial, medium and advanced stages from 2.0 to 2.5, 2.0 to 3.0 and 2.5 to 6.0 MPa, respectively. In the perennial and annual agriculture areas, the increase in SRP was due to differences in their mineral composition, and the lowest values found in the annual agriculture area were due to fauna activity. The employment of GPR generated information in a more rapid manner than with the use of impact penetrometer.

Water erosion is one of the main forms of soil degradation, causing economic, environmental, and social damage. This study evaluated the effects of different formation stages of gullies (initial - IG; juvenile- JG; mature - MG; and senile - SG) on the chemical, organic carbon and microbiological attributes of soil, using a secondary forest (SF) and two areas of pasture as references in the “Mar de Morros” environment of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome. Soil samples (depth 0–0.05 m) were collected at the end of the rainy and dry seasons. Gullies in different stages of formation promote a decrease in soil fertility and modification of microbiological attributes, particularly when compared with secondary forest areas. Reductions of over 60% in total organic carbon (TOC), oxidizable organic carbon (POXC), FDA activity, β-glycosidase, acid phosphatase, C and N from microbial biomass, basal soil respiration (BSR) and glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) were observed in gullies in early (IG) and intermediate (JG and MG) stages when compared to SF. It was found that the effect of erosion on soil chemical and microbiological attributes is more intense in gullies in the initial and intermediate stages compared with those in the senile stage (SG). Using multivariate PCA, the microbiological and chemical attributes of the soil are discriminated between gullies with distinct formation stages. Chemical attributes, TOC, POXC, FDA activity, β-glycosidase, acid phosphatase, MBC and MBN, BSR, and GRSP are good indicators for evaluating the process of erosion stabilization in gullies.

ABSTRACT:The objective of this study was to analyze a spatiotemporal study of the vegetation dynamics of the hydrographic basin of the Ribeirão Cachimbal in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), based on Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer imagery acquired by the TERRA satellite. A total of 23 images were used for each year of El Niño (2005 and2015), 250-m-resolution images from collection 006 of the 16-day Enhanced Vegetation Index (MOD13Q1) product were used. Daily rainfall and temperature data were obtained from a conventional meteorological station at Resende (Rio de Janeiro State), which were made available by the National Institute for Meteorology of Brazil. Simple linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the dependence of the temporal series of vegetation as a function of the daily series of rainfall and temperature in terms of the significance of their correlation coefficients. Multivariate analysis of the main components was also undertaken. The results of the simple linear regression between the vegetation index and meteorological variables (temperature and rainfall) were significant in the respective years (p-value < 5%), except for rainfall in 2015, which presented a value of 0.06 (p-value < 25%). Observing the trend, both years (2005 and 2015 showed an increase in vegetation in the study area (Z = 0.37 and 0.24, respectively). By quantifying the values of the respective vegetation classes, it was possible to verify that a reduction of 40% had occurred in areas with dense vegetation coverage by 2015. The vegetation dynamics of the Ribeirão Cachimbal basin are influenced by rainfall and temperature variables and they have greatest correlation in spring and summer.