No abstract

Agriculture can considerably change the composition and richness of the edaphic macrofauna, affecting the ecological and biological functions exerted by the fauna. This study was carried out in commercial production systems in the municipality of Guaíra, state of Paraná, Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of no-tillage systems (NTS) and seasonality on the diversity, richness, and composition of the edaphic macrofauna. Three areas managed under NTS for different periods 7 years (NTS-7), 14 years (NTS-14), and 23 years (NTS-23) under crop succession with soybean (summer) (aNTS7) and maize/wheat (winter) (NTS14 and NTS23) were evaluated, in addition to a native Atlantic Forest segment, which was used as a reference. Faunal samples were collected in the dry season (September 2013) and rainy season (February 2014). The edaphic macrofauna was evaluated using the method proposed by the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Program. Parametric statistics were applied, and the results were compared using Tukey’s test at a level of significance of 5%. Species density and total richness were usually higher in the NTS14 and NTS23 in the dry season. However, higher indexes of equability were not detected because of the dominance of groups Formicidae and Isoptera. The areas with the highest equability were the reference area in the dry season and NTS23 in the rainy season, corresponding to 0.87 and 0.61, respectively. These results indicate the higher faunal diversity in these areas, which reflects the greater stability of the ecosystem.

Concentração de metais pesados em espécies arbóreas utilizadas para revegetação de área contaminada 1Heavy metals concentration in tree species used for revegetation of contaminated area ), evidenciando contaminação com esse elemento. Os maiores teores dos metais pesados foram encontrados na fração residual (F5), indicando baixa disponibilidade destes elementos no substrato. Com relação ao Cd, elevadas concentrações também foram encontradas na fração trocável F2, considerada uma fração em que os contaminantes se apresentam com certa mobilidade e biodisponibilidade. As espécies vegetais estudadas apresentaram desenvolvimento dentro dos padrões normais, mostrando tolerância a áreas contaminadas com Cd, que tendeu a se acumular nas raízes das plantas, com exceção da Córdia -africana. Palavras-chave:Arborização. Revegetação. Solos-descontaminação.ABSTRACT -This study aims to evaluate the potential of tree species Cordia africana Lam., Mimosa caesalpineafolia Benth., Acacia angustissima (Mill.) Ktze. and Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan in the phytostabilization of heavy metal from a substrate contaminated. Four specimens of each tree specie were randomly determined for evaluations. Substrate samples were collected in the projection of the canopy trees of each specimen at depths 0-10, 10-30 and 30-50 cm for determining pseudototal concentration and chemical fractionation of heavy metals.Were collected data on roots depth, diameter at breast height, canopy diameter and plant height for each specimen. Samples of root, stem, bark and leaf were collected for analysis of heavy metals zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and copper (Cu). The Cd concentration in the substrate was above the investigation value defined by CONAMA (3,0 mg kg -1 ), showing contamination with this element. However, the highest concentrations of other studied heavy metals were found in the residual fraction (F5), indicating low availability of these elements in the substrate. High concentrations of Cd were also found in the exchangeable fraction F2, which is considered a fraction in which contaminants are present with some mobility and bioavailability. The plants showed development within the normal patterns, showing tolerance to Cd-contaminated areas, which tended to accumulate in the roots, except in the Córdia -africana.

Rice plants accumulate cadmium (Cd2+) within the grain, increasing the danger of human exposure. Natural materials have been used in soil remediation, but few studies have examined the risks (based on the bioavailability of these metals to plants) of using these materials, so the practice remains controversial. In the present study, we evaluated the effectiveness of biochar produced from sugarcane bagasse, vermicompost (VC), vermicompost solid residue (VCR) and humin for remediation of Cd2+-contaminated soils. We characterized the interactions between these materials and Cd2+ and evaluated their capacity to alter Cd2+ availability to rice plants. Our results show that under the conditions in this study, biochar and humin were not effective for soil remediation. Although biochar had high Cd2+ retention, it was associated with high Cd2+ bioavailability and increased Cd2+ accumulation in rice plants. VC and VCR had high Cd2+ retention capacity as well as low Cd2+ availability to plants. These characteristics were especially notable for VCR, which was most effective for soil remediation. The results of our study demonstrate that in the tested materials, the bioavailability of Cd2+ to plants is related to their structural characteristics, which in turn determine their retention of Cd2+.

Studies on heavy metal contamination in soils used for ammunition disposal and destruction are still emerging. The present study aimed to evaluate the contamination level and spatial distribution of lead in disposal and destruction areas. This site was used for ammunition disposal and destruction activities for 20 years. The ammunition destruction site (1,296 ha), a sampling system that followed a sampling grid (5 m × 5 m) with 30 points was adopted and samples were collected at the following five depths with a total of 150 samples. During the collection procedure, each sampling grid point was georeferenced using a topographic global positioning system. Data were validated through semivariogram and kriging models using Geostat software. The results demonstrated that the average lead value was 163 mg kg(-1), which was close to the investigation limit and the contamination levels were higher downstream than upstream. The results showed that there was lead contamination at the destruction site and that the contamination existed mainly at the surface layer depth. However, high lead concentrations were also found at deeper soil depths in the destruction area due to frequent detonations. According to the planimetry data, the areas that require intervention significantly decreased with increasing depths in the following order: 582.7 m(2) in the 0-20 cm layer; 194.6 m(2) in the 20-40 cm layer; 101.6 m(2) in the 40-60 cm layer; and 45.3 m(2) in the 60-80 cm layer.