Accumulation and persistence of carbon and nitrogen in soil in experiments with different soil management systems and crops rotation.
Climate change, soil management, Fractionation of soil organic matter.
The change in land use resulting from the replacement of extensive areas of original forest cover in Brazilian territory with productive areas, involving deforestation and fires, has been occurring at an accelerated pace in recent years, contributing to the increase in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Alternatives to this problem would be the adoption of conservation management systems with the potential to sequester carbon in the soil. In this sense, the present work aims to: I- evaluate the effect of different crop rotations on the accumulation of C and N in the soil and organic matter fractions (POM and MAOM) under PD and PC in three crop rotations after ten years of the evaluations carried out by Zotarelli et al. (2012), in order to understand the influence of the management system and residue quality on the accumulation of C in the soil in long-term experiments; II - evaluation of carbon stock and organic matter fractions (POM and MAOM), after eight years of evaluations carried out by Sant’Anna et al (2017), seeking to gather indicators of stabilization of organic matter in these systems; III - analyze the effect of different soil management systems on the stabilization and loss of COS. To achieve these objectives, the study was carried out in two experiments, one in Londrina-PR and the other in Planaltina-DF. In Londrina, the experiment was installed in 1997, and consisted of crop rotation systems with species used in the South Region, cultivated in no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (PT). In Planaltina, the experiment was established in 1991, its treatment areas are pastures, minimum cultivation, PD, crop/livestock integration (CLI) and an area of native vegetation (NV). In all systems, soil samples were collected to analyze soil density, carbon content, total nitrogen, 13C isotopic abundance and physical fractionation of organic matter. The results of these long-term experiments demonstrate that management practices involving greater soil disturbance, as observed in this case, result in lower carbon and nitrogen content in the soil. However, crop residues, owing to their quantity and quality, play a significant role in the accumulation of carbon and nitrogen in the soil, sometimes surpassing the adoption of more conservationist management systems. The adoption of systems that promote plant diversity, such as CLI, enhances carbon and nitrogen stocks in the soil, primarily in the most stabilized form, offering an alternative in the fight against climate change while ensuring food production and ecosystem sustainability.