Condutividade hidráulica de classes de solos brasileiros: uma abordagem prática sobre serviços ecossistemicos.

Abstract

The soil plays a crucial role in the organization of the environmental system and the support of various human activities, serving as an indispensable agent in the provision of Ecosystem Services (ES). However, defining and delimiting the actual provision of these services face significant challenges, especially in watersheds subjected to intense anthropogenic influence, such as those near urban areas. These challenges are particularly evident in diverse environments, such as the Córrego Marinheiro watershed, located in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais (MG), which exhibits a broad pedological variability already cataloged. In this context, the main objective of this dissertation is to understand how the dynamics of the provision of Hydrological Ecosystem Services (HES) are constructed throughout the territorial unit of the watershed. To achieve this, the research addresses processes related to water movement in the soil, the impacts of human activities on soil physical-hydraulic characteristics, and the relationship between these dynamics and the potential provision of HES. The analysis employed the Potential for Conservation Use (PCU) as a tool to evaluate HES in association with land use and land cover dynamics. The research highlighted the watershed's potentialities, particularly regarding the distribution of its physical aspects, which have been subjected to various pressures due to anthropogenic interventions. These changes may compromise the watershed's natural capacity to organize and sustain essential ecosystem services. The evaluation of HES throughout the territorial unit was conducted using Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity (Ksat) values obtained through volumetric rings. Measurements taken in the A and B horizons of different soil classes revealed significant variability between these horizons, with higher values observed in the A horizon. The results demonstrated a strong relationship with soil genesis processes, especially in areas with high organic carbon (OC) content, regardless of the predominant land uses and covers.