UMA VISÃO SOBRE QUALIDADE DO SOLO E A DINÂMICA DE ENERGIA E NUTRIENTES EM ECOSSISTEMAS AGRÍCOLAS
UMA VISÃO SOBRE QUALIDADE DO SOLO E A DINÂMICA DE ENERGIA E NUTRIENTES EM ECOSSISTEMAS AGRÍCOLAS
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.8882630046
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Palavras-chave: Agroecossistemas; Ciclos Biogeoquímicos; Matéria Orgânica do Solo; Práticas Conservacionistas; Saúde do Solo.
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Keywords: Agroecosystems; Biogeochemical Cycles; Soil Organic Matter; Conservationist Practices; Soil Health.
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Abstract: This chapter provides a comprehensive perspective on the interrelation between energy flow, nutrient dynamics, and soil quality in agricultural ecosystems. The analysis begins with thermodynamic fundamentals, highlighting solar energy conservation (First Law) and its inherent dissipation across trophic levels (Second Law), processes that shape nutrient cycling and life sustenance. Soil is presented as an active reservoir and central mediator, transforming plant-captured energy into organic matter and regulating essential nutrient availability. In native ecosystems, these flows are cyclic and integrated; however, in agroecosystems, human interventions such as synthetic-input-dependent monocultures and intensive tillage destabilize these cycles, degrading soil quality, compromising vital ecosystem services, and exemplifying anthropogenic interferences. In contrast, the importance of conservationist strategies, including no-till systems, agroforestry, and crop diversification, is discussed. These approaches restore the soil's structural and biological complexity, optimize carbon and nutrient cycling, and enhance its resilience. It is concluded that adequate soil quality management, through the appreciation of these ecological processes and the adoption of sustainable practices, is indispensable for ensuring long-term agricultural productivity and environmental integrity.
- Murilo Fuentes Pelloso
- Higo Forlan Amaral
- Kátia Regina Freitas Schwan-Estrada