In the no-tillage system, the absence of soil revolving, combined with the traffic of machines, promotes excessive soil surface compaction. An experiment was conducted in the county of Ponta Grossa, State of Paraná, Brazil, during the agricultural years of 1989/1990 and 1990/1991, with the objective of studying several factors that intervene in this process. This research compared the effects of three previous soil tillage methods and two liming levels on several physical properties of a clayey Dark Red Latosol under a no-tillage system and controlled traffic. Soil bulk density, soil porosity, and water retention between the potentials of -0.006 and -0.5 MPa were evaluated. Results showed significant effects of traffic increasing soil density and reducing soil porosity and water content retained between the above mentioned potentials. There was no significant effect of liming on the studied properties. The in-depth distribution of the load applied by the traffic of machines, mainly harvesters, seemed to be influenced by the soil volume revolved by the different soil initial tillage systems. Soil structure was modified by the traffic of machines, altering soil quality and reducing soybean yield, when compared to areas with absence of traffic.
crop rotation; soil structure; compaction; soil density; porosity