Microbial Biomass of a Dystrophic Red Latosol Cultivated with Different Species of Green Fertilizer

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different species as green manure and a consortium on soil microbial biomass, their activity and their indexes, using them as indicators of soil quality. The treatments consisted of four species of green manure (pigeon pea, crotalaria juncea, gray mucuna, consortium (crotalaria juncea + pigeon), as well as control treatments (uncovered soil and native forest reference system).In each of the experimental units, corresponding to the green manure species, the consortium and control treatments (without soil cover and native forest), soil samples were collected to estimate the biomass and microbial activity, besides determining the metabolic quotient of the microorganisms of the ground. Microbial biomass was determined by the fumigation-extraction method.The Guandu system presented the highest C-BMS content (246.07 μg C g-1 dry soil), differing statistically from the other systems, and on the other hand, the Uncovered Soil system showed lower microbial biomass volume than other systems due to little concentration of organic matter in the soil. Among the systems managed, the reference system (native forest) did not obtain the expected result because it did not present satisfactory statistical indexes among the systems with the exception of the Solo Discovered system. This system may have undergone some anthropic action on a significant time scale, or may have undergone plant suppression a few years ago.