IMPACT OF AFFORESTATION WITH Pinus taeda L. IN POROSITY AND PERMEABILITY OF A HAPLUMBREPT

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the introduction of Pinus taeda L. in the physical properties and quality of a Haplumbrept, under native grassland. The study was conducted in Cambará do Sul-RS, Brazil. For this, two areas were chosen, one in first rotation (RT1) and the other in second rotation (RT2). For each stand one area of adjacent -native grassland was evaluated jointly, as control. In each area, 5 trenches were opened and soil samples were collected in four layers up to 0.60 m deep. Changes in physical properties were analyzed by determining particle size, density and pore space of soil, saturated soil hydraulic conductivity and permeability of soil to air. The strategy of statistical analysis was to compare the data on RT1 and RT2 with their respective controls, CN1 and CN2, also comparing means by Student "t" test. The deployment of pine stands did not alter the density or total porosity, but provided average increases of 145%, 436% and 172% respectively for the macroporosity, hydraulic conductivity and permeability of soil to air on RT1 relative to CN1 in the 0.0-0.20 m and, respectively, 157%, 640% and 111%for the same variables in RT2 with respect to CN2 in the layer of 0.0-0.05 m. The stand with pine improved soil quality with regard to permeability to water and air.