Soil is one of the most important natural resource and its heterogeneity reflects the variability of its chemical and physical attributes. Soil heterogeneity occurs due to the natural process of formation and use by men and management. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the spatial variability of physical and chemical soil attributes and map the spatial distribution of these in Posses sub-basin, Extrema, representative of the Atlantic Forest biome present in southern Minas Gerais. For this, samples (0-0.20 m depth) were collected at 150 points, and their physical and chemical attributes were determined. Variables: Ca, Mg, K, P, pH, organic matter (MO), geometric mean diameter of aggregates (DMGcp), weighted mean diameter of aggregates (DMPcp) and flocculation index (IF) showed spatial dependence structure, which allowed mapping from geostatistical techniques. P, DMGsp and DMPsp presented structure with nugget effect, possibly due to an insufficient distance to capture spatial dependence in the sample for these attributes, and human interferences. The variation for Ca can be explained due to lime application, which occurred in some small properties located in the sub-basin. The DMGcp, DMPcp, and IF evaluated were adjusted in line with each other, indicating good soil aggregation.
geostatistics; chemical and physical soil attributes; soil and water conservation
