Content and quality of humic substances of a Albaqualf under different management systems

The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the content and chemical characteristics of humic substances (SHs) of an Albaqualf under different soil management systems. Soil samples were collected in a long-term field experiment (19 years) from the 0-0.025; 0.025-0.05 and 0.05-0.20m layers and from the top of the B horizon. The following treatments were evaluated: APC-continuous rice crop system under conventional tillage and weed control with herbicides; APD-no-tillage system with rye-grass in the winter and rice in the summer, and SN-soil under natural condition with native grassland. The Sills and the non-humic fraction (NH) were obtained by chemical fractioning. The content of total soil carbon and those occurring as SHS and NH were determined by the Walkley-Black and spectropholometric methods, respectively. To determine the chemical and molecular characteristics of the SHs, UV-visible and infrared spectroscopy techniques and elementar analyses were employed. In comparison to the soil under natural condition (SN), the no-tillage system (APD) maintained total soil organic carbon concentrations as well as the content of SHs. The conventional tillage reduced soil total organic carbon and the content of SH in the upper layers (< 0.05m). The proportion of fulvic acid in relation to the total soil organic carbon increased with soil depth, suggesting the mobilization of this fraction along the profile. The soil management system affected the composition of the organic matter mainly in the 0 to 0.025m layer, where the SH showed a lower decomposition and higher polaricity degree and contained smaller proportion of aliphatic structures than SH in the APD system.