Least limiting water range and critical bulk density values as recovery indicators of a soil under forest and pasture systems

The Least Limiting Water Range (LLWR) is an indicator of soil physical quality for plant growth determined not only by the availability of water, but also by aeration and soil resistance to root penetration. The objective of this work was to evaluate the LLWR and the critical values of bulk density of a Typic Hapludult soil under the Atlantic Forest, degraded pasture and revegetation with tree legumes. The area, located in Conceicao de Macabu, RJ state, is constituted of five vegetation coverages. Of these, three were pure plantations of the Acacia auriculiformis, Mimosa caesalpiniifolia e Inga edulis tree legumes, implanted in 1998 in plots of 1.500 m(2). The others, used as reference and adjacent to the legume plantations, were a degraded pasture and a forest fragment of Atlantic Forest. Soil samples, collected in volumetric rings in the 0-0.10 and 0.10-0.20 m depth layers, were used to obtain the water retention curve, penetration resistance curve and LLWR as a function of density. In no area or layer has been verified restrictions to soil aeration. On the other hand, RP values above the critical limit of 3.0 MPa were verified in most cases, making the LLWR smaller than the field capacity. Critical soil densities to plants for mechanical and water restrictions (Dsc(RP) and Dsc(IHO)) were higher under capoeira. The areas under leguminous trees, showing high average densities and low values of critical densities Dsc(RP) and Dsc(IHO), similar to those of the area under pasture. It can be concluded that the soil under capoeira shows resilience to the compaction process, and that after 17 years of revegetation with leguminous trees there was no consistent evidence of structural soil.