ABSTRACT
The Viruá National Park (PARNA Viruá) occupies 227.011 ha, in the region of the low 'Branco' river, in Roraima state. This area includes an extensive mosaic of complex seasonally flooded forested and non- forested environments. The present work aimed to characterize pedological aspects and identify the geo- environmental units of the Park and surroundings, in an integrated vision of the landscape and,additionally, estimate the carbon stocks in soils and geo-environments. We described and collected 29 soil profiles according with the main vegetation types of Campinaranas and Forests of PARNA Viruá and surroundings. The main soil classes are: Espodossolo Humilúvico, Neossolo Quartzarênico, Neossolo Flúvico, Neossolo Litólicos, Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo, Latossolo Vermelho, Cambissolo Háplico, Cambissolo Flúvico, Gleissolo Háplico and Plintossolo Háplico. The soils present an spatial distribution marked by abrupt limits and close association with the vegetation type. We identified three pedo-environments: (1) sandy soils of the Campinaranas; (2) soils associated with the inselbergs and adjacencies; and (3) alluvial soils. We mapped and described 18 geoenvironmental units in PARNA Viruá National Park and surroundings. The main geo- environments are: i) Sandy plains and Paleodunes with grassy and arborous Campinarana on 'Neossolos Quartzarênicos hidromórficos' and 'Espodossolos'; and Floodplains and; ii) Terraces with Igapó Forest on sandy hydromorphic soils, occupying 24.6 % and 20.1 % of the studied area, respectively. In terms of total soil carbon stocks, the geo-environments of the sandy complex of Campinaranas and associations stand out, with 9450.9 Gg C. The great extension and representativeness of the sandy areas of Campinaranas characterize PARNA Viruá Park as an important conservation unit for protecting Amazonian sandy soil systems. The areas under the domain of 'Espodossolos' possess the largest stocks of organic carbon and the sandy areas of Campinaranas and associations represent the most relevant geo-environment in terms of Park protecting environmental services and conservation of carbon in soils.
Keywords:
Campinaranas; Amazon; sandy soils; carbon stocks