The present experiment, totally randomized, was carried out under laboratory conditions at the Departamento de Defesa Fitossanitária, FCA/UNESP-Botucatu, between July and September, 1992. Fresh air-dry samples of quartz sand representing 40g of dry soil each, at 105 o C ± 2, with or without addition of 1.90g of dry matter of "poaia-branca" (Richardia brasiliensis) plants, 0.19g of nitrogen (NH4)2SO4 and 0.88g of Araxá apatite, were incubated under dark conditions at 25 oC ±2,with moisture held at 60% water retention capacity. During incubation, CO2-liberation was determined by means of the method of retention in NaOH followed by titration with HCl; microbial biomass was determined through the fumigation-incubation method, while pH and phosphorus extract by resin. CO2-liberation was high during the first ten days of incubation, with 77% of total carbon released in treatments with "poaia" addition, and 37% in treatments without addition. CO2-liberation was 57 times higher in the "Poaia" treatments compared to the control.
Rock phosphate; available phosphorus; weed; Richardia brasiliensis