Changes in the physical properties of soil, mainly related to water retention and soil aggregation, may be linked to changes in electrochemical soil properties. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of liming on the relationship between soil and water. In 1994, an experiment was installed in the experimental area of the Departamento de Solos da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, in a dystrophic plinthic Gray Acrisol. Treatments consisted in surface liming and lime incorporation at 0, 2+2, 8.5, and 17 Mg ha-1. In 2006, 12 years after lime application, undisturbed soil samples were collected in triplicate from the layers 0-5 and 5-10 cm. The chemical properties of the samples were characterized. The following physical properties were evaluated i) speed of soil wettability, estimated using a capillary rise device, ii) gravimetric soil moisture, measured at the end of the capillary rise trials, iii) bulk density, estimated by the ratio between the dry mass and volume of soil clods. The wettability speed was higher in soils treated with higher limestone doses, while bulk density was not affected. There was an increase of soil water contents of around 5,1 and 6,2 mg g-1 for each tonne of lime applied. The conclusion was drawn that the lime application forms had no influence on bulk density and soil water retention; liming influences the soil - water relationship, making the soil more hydrophilic with increasing doses of lime, regardless of the form of lime application.
cation exchange capacity; cation hidratation; negative permanent charges; capillary rise; water retention
