FULVIC ACID CARBON AS A DIAGNOSTIC FEATURE FOR AGRICULTURAL SOIL EVALUATION

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Abstract
The fulvic acid fraction is considered to be sensitive to agronomic and environmental factors. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate total carbon (TC) and fulvic acid carbon (FC) contents and to establish a possible relationship between the FC fraction and coarse organic matter in agricultural soils under different management practices: (i) conventional tilled soils (CVTs), (ii) conservation tilled soils (CSTs), and (iii) virgin soils (VIRs) from a wide region in Argentina. The investigation included 114 surface samples of Hapludolls, Haplustolls, and Entisols ranging in texture from sand to silt loam. In 29 selected samples, two separate soil mineral fractions were used (P < 0.05) observed in FC contents among all three treatments in the coarse fraction 0.1-2 mm confirm that the FC fraction is more influenced by the farming-system than is TC. Moreover, FC/TC ratios tended to increase under agricultural land use (CVTs > CSTs > VIRs), and this ratio also increased from finer textured soils to coarser textured soils. Results from soil mineral fractions indicated that FC content was highly related to recently incorporated organic residues.