Water erosion in soils under eucalyptus forest as affected by development stages and management systems

Abstract

The constant increasing of eucalyptus forest areas in Brazil requires an accurate monitoring of water erosion. The present study aimed to evaluate soil, nutrients and organic carbon losses occasioned by water erosion in eucalyptus planted forests (EPF) at different development stages (2, 3 and 7 years old). Soil erosion sediments were measured and sampled from standard erosion plots installed on Red Argisol-RA (Ultisol) and Haplic Cambisol-HC (Inceptisol). Soil loss decreased as the age of plants increased; at the beginning of plant development, the canopy barely covered the soil surface, exposing the soil to higher erosion at young EPF plantations. Furrow planting system was used in the Red Argisol area and caused higher soil losses (1.1 to 6.2 Mg ha-1 year-1) as compared to pit planting system that was used in the Cambisol area (1.1 Mg ha-1 year-1). It is known that Cambisol is less resistant to erosion than Argisol. However, using pit system in this EPF, resulted in lower erosion and, therefore, nutrients and carbon losses than the traditional furrow system used in Argisol. Concerning the soil loss, this work points to the need of improving soil conservation practices to prevent soil erosion at the earlier stages of eucalyptus plantation. The amount of calcium and potassium were higher than magnesium in the soil sediment.The relatively high amount of carbon found in the erosion sediments raises additional concerns about the environmental sustainability and deserves future research.