Interação Solo – Planta em um Sistema Agroflorestal consolidado no extremo Oeste do Estado de São Paulo

Abstract

An alternative cultivation system for sandy soils aimed at providing more affordable costs for small-scale farmers is the Agroforestry System (AFS), allowing for product diversification and cost dilution. In this study, the central crop was Coffee (Coffea arabica). Beyond the socio-economic aspects for family farming, the AFS proposal extends to the environmental services provided, such as the restoration of degraded areas, erosion reduction, organic carbon retention in the soil, and increased biodiversity. Thus, this project aimed to characterize and understand the edaphic benefits and environmental services provided by AFS compared to other arrangements or cultivation systems, including traditional pasture and preserved forest (Atlantic Forest). Additionally, the relationship between AFS tree species and soil properties was explored. Ten samples per area were collected at depths of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm for physical, chemical, and microbiological analyses, total organic carbon (TOC), particulate organic carbon (POC), and organic carbon stock (Org_C). Eighty georeferenced samples were collected in the AFS for the same laboratory procedures, along with coordinates for tree species. Existing patterns in the areas were studied through Pearson correlation analysis, considering only correlation values with statistical significance at p<0.05. Georeferenced data were analyzed using non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis and K-means cluster analysis. In comparing areas, Soil Density (Ds) showed a strong negative correlation of 0.63 with TOC, indicating that, although AFS had a Ds similar to pasture, it achieved TOC levels similar to the preserved forest, mainly due to litter input and the root system of tree species in the system. There was a strong positive correlation of 0.66 between soil organic matter and POC, demonstrating its role as an indicator of soil quality. Pasture results indicated it as the most degraded area with lower microbiological biodiversity. AFS had higher Base Sum values in the upper layer (0-10 cm) and matched the forest in TOC and POC values. Among AFS tree species, the Fabaceae family was observed in all three clusters generated by K-means, suggesting that while some soil characteristics may be influenced by the botanical family, other properties are more intrinsic to individual species.