Temperature in soil profile using two densities of mulching and nude soil

Abstract

The soil temperature is related with the processes of soil-plant interaction, particularly seed germination, development and activity of the roots absorbing water and nutritious from the soil, microorganisms activity, gases and solute diffusion, disease development, chemical reactions speed in the soil. Due to the importance of soil temperature for the vegetables, this study aimed at verifying the temperature in soil profile at different depths in nude soil and with two mulching densities. The experiment was carried out in the Estação Experimental Agrometeorológica (Agrometeorological Experimental Station) of Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná – Campus of Cascavel. Thermopares type (K) were installed in soil profile, at depths of 2, 5, 10, 20 and 40 cm, connected to a data acquisition equipment, programmed to effectuate one reading per second and to store arithmetic averages every five minutes, under two black oat mulching densities (4,000 and 8,000 kg.ha^-1). Results showed that the larger the mulching density of the soil, the lesser is its profile temperature variation. Soil temperature at 40-cm depth is practically stable during all day and night, for both mulching densities of the soil and for nude soil.