In view of the different managements used in coffee production, this study aimed to quantify the changes of some physical properties of an Oxisol under four-year-old coffee, in southern Minas Gerais. Three management systems were compared to native forest. The following management systems were evaluated: mechanized coffee production (CCM), coffee without mechanization (CSM), dense coffee plantation (CA) and native forest (MN) as reference. Undisturbed samples were collected with an Uhland sampler and aluminum rings (diameter 6.35 cm, height 2.54 cm), from the layers 0-3 cm and 15-18 cm; in the latter the maximum mechanical resistance had been previously determined by a penetrometer. The coffee plantations were sampled at two points, i.e., in the wheel track and under the trees (canopy projection) under CCM and CSM management, in-between coffee rows and under the trees under CA management, and randomly in native forest, with four replications, totaling 56 samples. The physical properties soil bulk density (BD), particle density (Dp), soil resistance to penetration (RP), total pore volume (VTP), macroporosity (Ma) and microporosity (Mi) and Ma/Mi ratio were evaluated. The mechanized coffee system affected the physical properties in the wheel track, as indicated by increases in soil density and soil penetration resistance and reduced total porosity, macroporosity and Ma/Mi ratio, four years after planting. In the 0-3 cm layer, macroporosity and Ma/Mi ratio were lower in the mechanized coffee system and microporosity, and penetration resistance higher than in the deeper layer, four years after planting.
soil structure; sustainability; mechanization
