Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-255).

Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Pasture Science)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Savanna rangelands are ecosystems which are characterized by the co-existence of scattered trees and shrubs with a continuous grass layer. However, the grass and tree balance has been highly altered as a result of disturbances caused by bush encroachment. Encroaching woody species have been shown to decrease species richness and abundance of the seed bank and ground‐layer diversity. So far little is known on the effect of bush encroachment and soil depth on the soil seed bank diversity in savanna rangelands. The objectives of this mini-dissertation were to (1) determine the influence of soil depth on soil seed bank diversity in bush encroached savanna rangelands, and (2) determine the relationships between soil seed bank herbaceous vegetation and physicochemical properties in encroached rangeland. In order to address these objectives, a savanna rangeland was demarcated into two encroachment gradients spanning from open to encroached rangeland. Within each encroachment gradient, six plots of 10 m x 10 m were randomly selected, whereby soil sampling and herbaceous vegetation were carried out and determined. In each replicate plot per encroachment level, five soil samples were randomly collected at 0-10 and 10-20 cm depths. The number of seedlings of different species emerging from the soil samples was used as a measure of the number of viable seeds in the soil and the composition of the seed bank using the seedling emergence method. The total seed densities showed significant differences (P<0.05) in the 0-10 cm depth layer in the open rangeland and encroached rangeland. Bush encroachment significantly (P<0.05) decreased the seed density of perennial grasses, specifically in 0-10 cm depth layer. Further, species diversity increased with bush encroachment in the 10-20 cm depth layer. Menhinick’s richness index showed no significant difference in the open and encroached rangeland, while species evenness decreased in the 0-10 cm depth layer and increased at 10-20 cm depth.The study also revealed negative correlations between organic carbon, calcium, clay, silt and forbs while mean weight diameter (MWD), a measure of soil aggregate stability was positively correlated with forbs. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that pH, phosphorus, potassium and calcium were positively correlated to Eragrostis curvula and magnesium was negatively correlated to Panicum maximum. In open rangeland, CCA revealed that clay content was negatively correlated with species evenness while xii magnesium was negatively correlated to the Shannon Weiner index. Further, silt content was positively correlated with species richness and evenness. In the encroached rangeland, the CCA showed a negative correlation between magnesium and the Shannon Weiner index. The Sørensen’s index between soil seed banks and aboveground vegetation was low with index values of 0.22 and 0.24 in open and encroached rangeland, respectively. / AgriSeta

Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Soil Science)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Woody plant encroachment results in the degradation of grasslands. It is defined here as the increase in density, cover and biomass of woody plants into formerly open grasslands, reducing grassland productivity. Globally, many arid and semi-arid savanna grasslands are affected by this land cover transformation which changes the vegetation structure by altering the ratio of woody plants relative to grass species and influences soil hydrology. In the existing literature there is limited information on the effects of woody plant encroachment on soil physical and hydrological properties, especially in savanna grasslands. This study quantified and compared the soil physical and hydrological properties in the topsoil and subsoil of open and woody plant encroached grassland sites located on two contrasting soil forms, namely Bainsvlei and Rensburg. To achieve this objective, the two soils were sampled at various depth intervals from dug soil profiles at both sites at Towoomba Research Station in Bela Bela, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Soil physical properties including bulk density, porosity and aggregate stability as well as hydrological properties (water retention and hydraulic conductivity) were determined from collected samples. Compared to open grassland, soil bulk density was 11% and 10% greater in the topsoil and subsoil, while porosity was respectively 6% and 9% lower in the topsoil and subsoil of woody plant encroached grassland for Rensburg soils. In Bainsvlei soil, there was a minimal increase and decrease in the soil bulk density and porosity, respectively. Soil aggregate stability increased by 38% in the subsoil of woody plant encroached grasslands in Rensburg soil, due to increasing clay content with depth. In Bainsvlei soil, the soil aggregate stability was 9% and 13% lower in the topsoil and subsoil of the woody plant encroached grasslands compared to open grassland. Furthermore, the results revealed that in both soils, there was lower soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity in the topsoil and subsoil layers of woody plant encroached grassland than in open grasslands. There were no significant differences observed for soil hydraulic conductivity in the Bainsvlei and Rensburg topsoil. The subsoil hydraulic conductivity decreased by 24% in Bainsvlei and 44% in Rensburg soils in the woody plant encroached grassland. The soil water retention (SWR) decreased with an increase in woody plants. Specifically, there was 25% and 42% decrease in SWR with woody plant encroachment in the topsoil and subsoil of Bainsvlei soil, respectively. The same trend was observed in the Rensburg soils with 50% and 19% decrease in SWR in the topsoil and subsoil, respectively. Overall, the results revealed that soil type and depth influenced soil physical and hydrological properties in the studied woody plant encroached savanna grassland. As such, interventions aimed at controlling woody plant encroachment need to factor in soil type and depth in the development of management practices tailored to improve the soil hydrology of savanna grasslands

Soluble organic matter represent less than 1% of total soil organic matter (SOM) - but it contributes to many terrestrial ecosystem processes, due to its high mobility and reactivity in soil. Although it has been suggested that soluble organic matter (OM) may serve as an early indicator of soil quality changes as a result of shifts in land-use and management practices, only a few studies have addressed the dynamics of soluble OM in relation to land-use and specifically soil depth. This study focuses on two aspects of soluble OM. In the first part, I hypothesized that extractable OM obtained by aqueous solutions is a continuum of substances that depending on the extraction method can be separated into two operationally different fractions. The size and properties of these fractions may consistently differ among different land uses and at different soil depths. The objective of this part of the study was then to assess dynamics (size and properties, biodegradability and seasonality) of water extractable organic matter (WEOM) and salt extractable organic matter (SEOM) in a sequence of human dominated land-uses at topsoil and subsoil. At the second part of the study, I tested the regulatory gate hypothesis –abiotic solubilization of OM- as a primary controlling factor in soluble OM production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the microbial activity on the net production of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from the native SOM in the presence of added DOM and plant residue. For the first part of the experiment, the soil samples were collected from four land-uses under bog pine (Halocarpus bidwillii) woodland, tussock grassland (Festuca novae-zelandiae and Heiracium pilosella), cropland (Medicago sativa) and plantation forest (Pinus nigra). The selected land uses were located in the Mackenzie Basin, Canterbury, New Zealand and occurring on the same soils, topography and experienced similar climates. Soil samples were obtained from topsoil (0-20 cm) and subsoil (60-80 cm) at the end of each season (November, February, May and August) during 2007-2008. The sampled soils were adjusted to the same water status prior to extraction. While WEOM was obtained during a mild extraction procedure and using 0.01M CaCl2, SEOM was extracted with 0.5M K2SO4 at high temperature (75οC for 90 min). Both extracts were filtered through a 0.45 μm filter size. In the first part of the study, I assessed the biodegradation dynamics of WEOM and SEOM (spring samples), using a double-exponential decay model. The WEOM and SEOM were inoculated and incubated at 22°C for 90d under aerobic conditions. Subsamples were removed on days 1, 3, 7, 12, 16, 30, 42, 60, 75, and 90, filtered (0.22 μm), and analyzed for organic C and N content, UV absorption, and 13C natural abundance (δ13C). The results of the biodegradation experiment indicated a similar pattern for both C and N of SEOM and WEOM as that of previously shown for soil DOM. However, C and N mineralization rate were considerably larger in the WEOM than SEOM. The parameters of the double-exponential model suggested that regardless of the land-use and soil depth, both the WEOM and SEOM can be modeled in two biological pools, with a largely similar “fast decomposable” but different “slowly decomposable” pools. However, since the extraction was not sequentially followed, a very small portion of the SEOM was comprised of the WEOM and given the greater observed biodegradability of the WEOM, the overall biodegradable portion of the SEOM would be lower than the observed. Despite a greater biodegradability of the organic N than C of both WEOM and SEOM; mainly due to a longer HL of the slowly biodegradable pool of C; the C/N ratio of the samples did not change very much during the biodegradation. This led us to conclude that the biodegradation of soluble OM may occur as a function of N availability. Parallel to C and N loss, a considerable increase in SUVA254 of SEOM, and particularly WEOM occurred during the incubation period. The greater increase in the proportion of aromatic compounds (assessed by SUVA) in the WEOM than SEOM, implied consumption of simple compounds (vs. very humified) during decomposition and further supported the observed faster biodegradation rate of the WEOM. The data indicated a relatively strong correlation (R2=0.66 and 0.74 for the WEOM and SEOM, respectively) between the amount of biodegraded C and the increase in SUVA254. This suggested that SUVA254 can be used as a simple, low-cost but reliable approach for describing the biodegradability of soluble OM, as previously suggested by others. At the end of the bioassay, the 13C natural abundance of the WEOM was significantly depleted, and showed a clear relationship with the proportion of the biodegraded C. This confirmed the previously suggested preferential biodegradation of simple organic constituents (13C enriched), resulting in the accumulation of more depleted 13C compounds (often recalcitrant compounds). Moreover, the results of the δ13C technique revealed that the relatively greater 13C enrichment of the WEOM obtained from subsoil, seems to be due to the presence of root exudates (often highly 13C enriched). In contrast, a proportionally greater 13C depletion observed in the SEOM particularly at subsoil samples, suggests that there is a close relationship between the SEOM and the typically 13C depleted humified SOM. The results of the biodegradation model (half-life of both C and N), in addition to dynamics of SUVA254 and δ13C of the WEOM and SEOM were very comparable between top and subsoil samples. This implied that the potential biodegradability of soluble OM under laboratory conditions does not necessary reflect the reported lower in situ biodegradability at soil depth, in agreement with recent evidence suggested by others. Instead, this may be largely due to the lack of optimum conditions (oxygen, nutrients, and moisture) for the decomposer community at soil depth. Although there was a tendency for a generally greater biodegradability of the samples from the soils under the crop land (both WEOC and SEOC), along with relatively greater increase in SUVA, there was not a consistent trend of the effect of land use on the biodegradation of either WEOM or SEOM. The lower C/N ratio of the soils under the crop land seemed to be related with the observed proportionally greater biodegradability of these soils. During the second part of the study, I assessed seasonal variations of the size and properties of the previously defined WEOM and SEOM, collected from top-and subsoil from the land-uses. I observed that 10-year after conversion of the degraded tussock grassland to cropland or plantation, the total C stock of topsoil (0-20 cm) when above- and below-ground plant biomass is excluded; has remained unchanged. This was attributed to the limited biomass production of the region, more likely as a result of low productivity of the soil, but also harsh climatic conditions. Not only soil depth, but land-use affected both C concentration and C/N ratio of soil organic matter (SOM), with the greatest C concentration of soils under grassland and plantation in topsoil and subsoil, respectively. Despite the WEOM, the size of SEOM was largely unaffected by land-use and soil depth; instead, the properties of SEOM was more consistent with the effect of soil depth. Given the observed large temporal and spatial variability of the WEOM, the study suggests that the SEOM more consistently reflects the influence of land use and soil depth. No consistent effect of seasonality was observed in terms of size or properties of the SOM and the WEOM and SEOM. Overall comparison of the size and properties of the WEOM and SEOM indicated that OM extraction efficiency may vary largely, depending on extraction conditions. Using more concentrated salt solutions consistently yielded greater amount of OM (N, and especially C) release from soil with properties resembling more those of total soil OM (more humified) compared to the WEOM. The SEOM was also less variable by time and space. The last part of the study was aimed to assess biotic vs. non-biotic solubilization of OM in the presence of added plant residue. Given the need to recognize the source of the solubilized OM during the experiment, I used enriched (13C) plant residue as the source of fresh OM. The above-ground part of ryegrass was added to soil either as plant residue or residue extract (extracted with CaCl2 followed by 0.45μm filtration) -termed DOM. These two forms of added OM (residue/DOM) were conceived to represent two levels of bioavailability for the decomposer community for further assessing possible biotic solubilization of OM. Two soils similar in their OM content and other properties, but different in mineralogy were selected for the experiment. Soils were incubated for 90d under sterilized vs. non-sterile conditions and leached regularly with a dilute aqueous solution (0.05M CaCl2). Plant residue was added to soil (1:100, residue: soil, w/w) prior to the start of the incubation, but DOM was frequently applied to the soils along with each leaching experiment. The greater C and N concentration in the leachates of both sterilized residue-amended and DOM-amended soils compared to that of living soils, indicated a high microbial activity, as determined by CO2 loss, in the living soils. However, the proportion of the solubilized C (determined by 13C) from sterilized soils was largely comparable to that of living soils. This supports the recently suggested “regulatory gate” hypothesis, stating that solubilisation of OM largely occurs independent of the size or community structure of microorganisms. In addition, I observed that even with the presence of adequate amount of added fresh OM (ryegrass residue), about 70% of the solubilized C consistently originated from the humified soil OM, highlighting the role of native soil OM as the source of soluble OM in soil. In addition, in the DOM-amended soils, there was strong evidence, indicating that in the sterilized soils, the added DOM was exchanged with the humified soil OM as observed by an increase in SUVA, and humification index (HI) of the leached OM. Although the results of the study did not show a considerable difference in the solubilisation rate of added OM as a function of biological activity (either in the residue- or DOM-amended soils), there was clear evidence that the presence of microbial activity has resulted in further decomposition of the solubilised OM through biological transformations. Together, the results suggested that the proposed fractionation method can be used to separate two operationally defined pools of soluble OM with consistent differences in their size (C and N), properties (δ13C, SUVA254, and C/N ratio) and biodegradability across the land-uses and soil depth. The second part of the study supported the primary role of abiotic factors on the production of soluble OM from native soil OM. Although the abiotic mechanisms involved in the solubilization remain to be addressed by future studies. Cons and pros of the methods with some suggestions for further works have been mentioned in the last chapter.

A utilização frequente de glyphosate em sistemas de produção envolvendo as culturas de soja e milho, resistentes ao glyphosate, tem selecionado populações resistentes de plantas daninhas a este herbicida, sendo comum no Brasil a ocorrência de populações resistentes de capim amargoso (Digitaria insularis). Para manejo racional destas populações, há necessidade de medidas alternativas envolvendo herbicidas e práticas culturais, as quais somente podem ser empregadas adequadamente com o conhecimento da biologia da planta daninha, porém atualmente pouco se sabe sobre a biologia do capim amargoso. Portanto, este trabalho teve como objetivo obter informações básicas da biologia das populações de capim-amargoso suscetíveis e resistentes ao herbicida glyphosate. Para isso, foram conduzidos três ensaios no Departamento de produção Vegetal da ESALQ/USP, em Piracicaba - SP, durante o ano de 2012. Para isso foram coletadas sementes do biótipo resistente no município de Matão, São Paulo, e as sementes do biótipo suscetível no município de Piracicaba, São Paulo. A determinação do fator de resistência entre estes biótipos ao glyphosate foi determinas a partir da elaboração de curvas de dose-resposta no estádio de desenvolvimento de 3 a 4 perfilhos do capim amargoso. Em seguida, foram conduzidos experimentos para avaliar a germinação e quantificação de massa seca produzida sob efeito de diferentes volumes da cobertura do solo com resíduos de milheto. Também foram desenvolvidos ensaios para avaliar a longevidade das sementes dos biótipos resistentes e suscetíveis, conduzidas em diferentes profundidades no solo. Através do modelo de curva dose-resposta foi possível quantificar o fator de resistência (GR50) a partir do programa estatístico R obtendo o valor de 16,66, comparando-se o biótipo resistente ao suscetível. O aumento da quantidade de palha de milheto sobre as sementes proporciona diminuição do peso de matéria seca de plântulas de Digitaria insularis, tanto resistente como suscetível ao glyphosate, sendo percebida de forma mais acentuada nos tratamentos 4,0 e 8,0 ton ha-1. O biótipo resistente apresenta número de plântulas significativamente maior que o biótipo suscetível, independentemente da quantidade de palha. Não é possível concluir que as sementes dos biótipos resistentes possuem maior longevidade que as sementes dos biótipos suscetíveis, sendo que a presença de luz é indiferente para a sua germinação. / The frequent use of glyphosate in production systems that involve the crops soybean and corn, resistant to glyphosate, have selected weed populations resistant to this herbicide, being very common in Brazil the occurrence of resistant populations of bitter grass (Digitaria insularis). For the rational management of these populations, there is a need of alternative measures, that involve herbicides and cultural practices, which can be applied only with the knowledge of the weed biology, however little is known about the bitter grass biology. Therefore, this study aimed to obtain basic information of the biology of populations of bitter grass susceptible and resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. For that, three assays were conducted in the Department of Crop Science at ESALQ / USP, in Piracicaba - SP, during the year 2012. For that, it was collected seeds of the resistant biotype in Matão, São Paulo and seeds of the susceptible population in Piracicaba, São Paulo. The determination of the resistance factor for glyphosate between the biotypes was performed using dose-response curves at stage 3-4 tillers of bitter grass. Following, it was evaluated the germination and quantification of dry matter produced under the effect of different amounts of coverage with millet straw. It was also developed trials to see longevity of the resistant and susceptible biotypes, conducted at different soil depths. With the model of dose-response curve, it was possible to quantify the resistance factor (GR50) from the R statistical program by obtaining the value of 16.66, compared to the susceptible biotype resistant. The increased amount of millet straw on seed caused reduction in dry weight of seedlings of Digitaria insularis, for both biotypes, being more evident in treatments of 4.0 and 8.0 ton ha-1. The resistant biotype showed significantly higher number of seedlings than susceptible population, regardless of the amount of straw. It is not possible to conclude that the seeds of resistant biotypes have greater longevity than the seeds of the susceptible biotype, and the presence of light is indifferent to its germination.

A utilização frequente de glyphosate em sistemas de produção envolvendo as culturas de soja e milho, resistentes ao glyphosate, tem selecionado populações resistentes de plantas daninhas a este herbicida, sendo comum no Brasil a ocorrência de populações resistentes de capim amargoso (Digitaria insularis). Para manejo racional destas populações, há necessidade de medidas alternativas envolvendo herbicidas e práticas culturais, as quais somente podem ser empregadas adequadamente com o conhecimento da biologia da planta daninha, porém atualmente pouco se sabe sobre a biologia do capim amargoso. Portanto, este trabalho teve como objetivo obter informações básicas da biologia das populações de capim-amargoso suscetíveis e resistentes ao herbicida glyphosate. Para isso, foram conduzidos três ensaios no Departamento de produção Vegetal da ESALQ/USP, em Piracicaba - SP, durante o ano de 2012. Para isso foram coletadas sementes do biótipo resistente no município de Matão, São Paulo, e as sementes do biótipo suscetível no município de Piracicaba, São Paulo. A determinação do fator de resistência entre estes biótipos ao glyphosate foi determinas a partir da elaboração de curvas de dose-resposta no estádio de desenvolvimento de 3 a 4 perfilhos do capim amargoso. Em seguida, foram conduzidos experimentos para avaliar a germinação e quantificação de massa seca produzida sob efeito de diferentes volumes da cobertura do solo com resíduos de milheto. Também foram desenvolvidos ensaios para avaliar a longevidade das sementes dos biótipos resistentes e suscetíveis, conduzidas em diferentes profundidades no solo. Através do modelo de curva dose-resposta foi possível quantificar o fator de resistência (GR50) a partir do programa estatístico R obtendo o valor de 16,66, comparando-se o biótipo resistente ao suscetível. O aumento da quantidade de palha de milheto sobre as sementes proporciona diminuição do peso de matéria seca de plântulas de Digitaria insularis, tanto resistente como suscetível ao glyphosate, sendo percebida de forma mais acentuada nos tratamentos 4,0 e 8,0 ton ha-1. O biótipo resistente apresenta número de plântulas significativamente maior que o biótipo suscetível, independentemente da quantidade de palha. Não é possível concluir que as sementes dos biótipos resistentes possuem maior longevidade que as sementes dos biótipos suscetíveis, sendo que a presença de luz é indiferente para a sua germinação. / The frequent use of glyphosate in production systems that involve the crops soybean and corn, resistant to glyphosate, have selected weed populations resistant to this herbicide, being very common in Brazil the occurrence of resistant populations of bitter grass (Digitaria insularis). For the rational management of these populations, there is a need of alternative measures, that involve herbicides and cultural practices, which can be applied only with the knowledge of the weed biology, however little is known about the bitter grass biology. Therefore, this study aimed to obtain basic information of the biology of populations of bitter grass susceptible and resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. For that, three assays were conducted in the Department of Crop Science at ESALQ / USP, in Piracicaba - SP, during the year 2012. For that, it was collected seeds of the resistant biotype in Matão, São Paulo and seeds of the susceptible population in Piracicaba, São Paulo. The determination of the resistance factor for glyphosate between the biotypes was performed using dose-response curves at stage 3-4 tillers of bitter grass. Following, it was evaluated the germination and quantification of dry matter produced under the effect of different amounts of coverage with millet straw. It was also developed trials to see longevity of the resistant and susceptible biotypes, conducted at different soil depths. With the model of dose-response curve, it was possible to quantify the resistance factor (GR50) from the R statistical program by obtaining the value of 16.66, compared to the susceptible biotype resistant. The increased amount of millet straw on seed caused reduction in dry weight of seedlings of Digitaria insularis, for both biotypes, being more evident in treatments of 4.0 and 8.0 ton ha-1. The resistant biotype showed significantly higher number of seedlings than susceptible population, regardless of the amount of straw. It is not possible to conclude that the seeds of resistant biotypes have greater longevity than the seeds of the susceptible biotype, and the presence of light is indifferent to its germination.

No description available.

Invasive species are cited as a major threat to native community composition and biodiversity throughout the world. Some recent studies have focused on whether invasive species are the drivers or passengers of change in degraded systems. A strongly-interactive community is supposed to resist invasion by all but the most strong invasive competitors (`drivers') which can establish there without the aid of disturbance and actively reduce the abundance of natives. A weakly-interactive community, impaired by some anthropogenic disruption, is invasible by weaker exotics which are merely `passengers' of the habitat degradation that is more constraining to natives. Though competitive and disturbance-adapted species fit into this model, there is no correlate for species with superior toleration of stress. Systems with high degrees of natural abiotic stress are weakly-interactive and as a result may be invasible by an exotic `tolerator' in the same way that anthropogenically-weak systems are invasible by passengers. Dolomite prairie, differentiated from typic tallgrass prairie by its shallow soils, represents a relatively stressful system. A study of its plant community composition and relationships to environmental variables was done to get a better understanding of the natural abiotic drivers of composition. Compositional patterns were most closely associated with the soil depth gradient. Exotic Poa species were by far the most frequent invaders, a finding more typical of Great Lakes alvars than of typic tallgrass prairie of which the dolomite prairie is a subset. I hypothesized that Poa species dominated dolomite prairie via the tolerator model. In a series of removal treatments, I determined that Poa is neither a driver nor a tolerator, but a passenger of environmental degradation. My results suggest that historic anthropogenic degradation rather than specific competitive ability is a common explanation for exotic dominance on the landscape today. More empirical work needs to be conducted in other stressful (particularly relatively undisturbed) systems to further investigate the tolerator model.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / A bananeira à uma planta que pode ter sua produÃÃo prejudicada se cultivada em locais com limitaÃÃes fÃsicas, como aquelas associadas a solos rasos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar se o desempenho da bananeira irrigada à afetado pela profundidade efetiva, de modo que, para isso, foram avaliados atributos fÃsicos e quÃmicos do solo, bem como o estado nutricional, o sistema radicular e atributos relacionados à produtividade da bananeira. O estudo foi realizado na Chapada do Apodi â CE , com avaliaÃÃo de dois tratamentos: solo raso e solo profundo. Amostras de solo (indeformadas e deformadas) e de raÃzes foram coletadas em seis profundidades (0-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50 e 50-60 cm) e cinco repetiÃÃes. Nas amostras indeformadas foram determinados atributos fÃsicos do solo como: curva de retenÃÃo de Ãgua (CR), densidade (Ds) e porosidade (PT). Nas amostras deformadas foram feitas anÃlises granulomÃtricas, densidade de partÃculas (Dp), alÃm das determinaÃÃes quÃmicas para fins de fertilidade. A resistÃncia do solo à penetraÃÃo foi avaliada diretamente no campo, utilizando penetrÃmetro de impacto, com cinco repetiÃÃes em profundidade de atà 60 cm. Para o estudo de raÃzes a amostragem foi por meio de sonda e, apÃs a coleta, foi feita lavagem para separaÃÃo de raÃzes e solo. A partir de imagens das raÃzes lavadas foram avaliados atributos como comprimento, Ãrea e volume total, alÃm de diferentes classes de diÃmetro de raÃzes. Para a avaliaÃÃo do estado nutricional e produtividade da bananeira foram amostradas 30 plantas em cada tratamento, totalizando 60 indivÃduos na Ãrea experimental. Para avaliar o estado nutricional foram coletadas folhas no perÃodo do florescimento e determinados os teores de macro e micronutrientes no tecido vegetal. Os atributos fÃsicos avaliados nÃo diferiram em funÃÃo da profundidade efetiva dos solos, exceto a resistÃncia à penetraÃÃo que, a partir dos 30 cm de profundidade, tornou-se maior no solo raso com pico de 5,1 MPa. No solo profundo a fertilidade e as condiÃÃes nutricionais da bananeira foram melhores. Os atributos radiculares, como nÃmero de classes de diÃmetro e diÃmetro mÃximo, foram maiores no solo profundo e o diÃmetro mÃnimo foi menor neste solo. O peso de cachos e a produtividade foram significativos, apresentando-se maior no solo profundo. Em geral, os atributos quÃmicos, fÃsicos, nutricionais e radiculares da bananeira foram melhores no solo profundo, refletindo em maior produtividade da cultura e possibilitando maior renda econÃmica nessa Ãrea. / The production of banana can be affected whether plants are cropped in sites with physical impedances, as those found in shallow soils. The aim of this research was to verify if irrigated banana plants performance is affected by effective soil depth, and for this purpose were evaluated both soil physical and chemical attributes, as well as plants nutritional condition, root system, and attributes related with banana plants yield. The study was carried out at Apodi Plateau (CE), by evaluation of two treatments: shallow and deep soils. Soil samples (indisturbed and disturbed) and roots were collected in six soil depths (0-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50 e 50-60 cm) and five replications. In undisturbed samples were determined soil physical attributes like water retention curve (CR), soil bulk density (Ds), and porosity (PT). In the disturbed samples were analized soil texture, particles density (Dp), besides chemical determinations for soil fertility purposes. Soil penetration resistance was evaluated directely in the field, using an impact penetrometer, with five replications and until soil depth of 60 cm. To root studies the sampling was done using a probe, and after collecting, samples were washed to separate roots from soil. From washed root images were evaluated attributes like root lenght, area and total volume, besides root diameter classes. To evaluate banana plants nutritional status and yield were sampled 30 plants in each treatment, totalizing 60 individuals in the experimental area. To evaluate nutritional status leaves were collected in the flowering period, and the amounts of macro and micronutrients were determined in plant tissue. The evaluated physical attributes did not differ as a function of soil depth, except penetration resistence that, from depth of 30 cm became higher in the shallow soil, with highest value of 5.1 MPa. In the deep soil, fertility and nutritional status of plants showed better values. Roots attributes like number of diameter classes and maximum diameter were higher in deep soil, and minimal diameter was higher in the deep soil also. The bunch weight and yield were higher in deep soil. In general, chemical and physical attributes, root system attributes and nutritional status of banana plants were better in deep soil, reflecting in better crop yield and enabling greater economic rentability in the site.

abstract: Aboveground net primary production (ANPP) is an important ecosystem process that, in drylands, is most frequently limited by water availability. Water availability for plants is in part controlled by the water holding capacity of soils. Available water holding capacity (AWHC) of soils is strongly influenced by soil texture and depth. This study drew upon localized rain gauge data and four data-sets of cover-line and biomass data to estimate ANPP and to determine annual precipitation (PPT). I measured soil depth to caliche and texture by layer of 112 plots across the four landscape units for which estimation of ANPP were available. A pedotransfer function was used to estimate AWHC from soil depth increments to depth of caliche measurements and texture analysis. These data were analyzed using simple and multivariate regression to test the effect of annual precipitation and available water holding capacity on aboveground net primary production. Soil texture remained constant among all plots (sandy loam) and depth to caliche varied from 15.16 cm to 189 cm. AWHC and the interaction term (PPT*AWHC) were insignificant (p=0.142, p=0.838) and annual PPT accounted for 18.4% of the variation in ANPP. The y-intercept was significantly different for ANPP ~ annual PPT when considering AWHC values either above or below 3 cm. Shrub ANPP was insensitive to precipitation regardless of AWHC (R2=-0.012, R2=0.014). Results from this study indicate that a model incorporating annual PPT and AWHC may not serve as a good predictor for ANPP at a site level where there is little variation in soil texture. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Sustainability 2019