The commom practice of burning the sugar cane plant straw before harvesting has been the subject of very intensive discussions related to the possible changes on soil properties as well as the emission of gases in the atmosphere. The objective of this study was to evaluate variations in soil physical and chemical properties of two areas of Cambisols (Inceptisols) cultivated with sugarcane, on of which area was submitted to continuous cultivation and the other was in its 50th cycle of production with no mechanical form of soil mobilization. The studied areas are located in the region North of Rio de Janeiro State, municipality of Campos dos Goytacazes, A total area of 4,422 m² was sampled, using a grid of 7 lines and 7 columns with 9.5 m of constant space between them. Thus, 49 cells were formed in which center the sample points were located. Semivariograms were used to evaluate variance structure and to characterize the spatial dependence of soil properties in each area. The semivariograms for particle size components of the soils indicated differences related to parent material, since they showed distinct correlation for each area. Moreover the management system affects the characteristics related to soil porosity, mainly at the 0 to 20 cm depth. For Ca, Mg and K, the continuous cultivated area showed variability with lower spatial correlation than the other system. On the other hand, the area without mechanical cultivation, even without any fertilization, showed an amount of nutrient higher or near that of the continuous cultivation treatment. In can be concluded that: the spatial behavior of the particle size distribution fractions, different in the two fields, on top of having different average values, indicated that the soils may have parent material with different particle size fractions; that the continuous cultivation increased the continuity of the spatial variability of soil porosity attributes; and that continuous cultivation also changed the spatial correlation for Ca, Mg and K.
soil tillage; soil properties; spatial dependence; semivariogram
