In the conventional tillage system the soil is mobilized, incorporating and distributing crop residues and fertilizers in the arable layer. In no-tillage systems, however, where no soil mobilization occurs, lime and fertilizers are applied on the soil surface, which combined with the maintenance of crop residues cover favor the formation of a gradient of nutrient and organic matter concentration in the superficial soil layer. In the present study it was evaluated the effect of these two tillage systems on the chemical attributes of a Humic Cambisol, in Lages County, State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, in 2001, six years after the soil pH had been corrected by liming. The data were compared with those of a soil from a nearby native field. The following soil treatments with four replications were used: conventional tillage with one plowing and two diskings in crop rotation (PCR) and in crop succession (PCS), no-tillage in crop rotation (SDR) and in crop succession (SDS), and a native field (CN). The cropping sequence comprised of bean/fallow/corn/fallow/soybean/fallow was adopted in the PCR, whereas the corn/fallow sequence was adopted in the PCS system. In SDR the sequence was bean/oat/corn/fodder radish/soybean/vetch and, whereas corn/vetch was cultivated in the SDS. In April 2001, organic carbon, extractable phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, calcium, magnesium and aluminum (Al3+), potential acidity (H + Al), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and pH in water were analyzed at the depths 0-2.5; 2.5-5.0; 5.0-10.0; 10.0-15.0; 15.0-20.0 and 20.0-30.0 cm. Despite the insignificance of the differences, a tendency to a slight pH reduction and H + Al increase was observed in most superficial layers under no-tillage compared to the conventional tillage system. Significant increases of organic carbon in the no-tillage system seem to be responsible for the slight reduction of exchangeable Al in those layers. No differences among the systems were verified for exchangeable calcium and magnesium, but there was a slight increase of magnesium with depth in the soil under no-tillage system. In this system, an accumulation of K and P was observed in the top centimeters of the soil.
soil management; chemical properties; cultivation methods; crops rotation
