The degradation of soils with high sand content, in the southwest of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, is due to the vegetal cover withdrawal, forming sandy areas called "areais", which pose a risk to animal husbandry and the prairie ecosystem. A technique of revegetation with cover crops such as Avena strigosa Schieb. and Lupinus albescens H. et Arn., was developed to reduce the soil particle movement by eolic erosion. The experiment was carried out on a Quartzipsament soil, from September to December 2001 and from January to December 2002, in a completely randomizased design and nine replications, on a degraded area and on a degraded area under cover crops. Galvanized metal boxes of 0.5 x 0.5 m, in a pyramid base shape, were buried in the center of the plots, with the upper opening at the ground level. The sand volume deposited in the boxes by the wind was measured every fortnight, and the water content determined. In 2001, the amount of transported sand was 365 Mg ha-1 from the area with cover crops and 5.053 Mg ha-1 from the degraded area, expressing a reduction of 93 % in sand transport by eolic erosion. In 2002, 775 Mg ha-1 of sand was transported from the area with cover crops, whereas 11080 Mg ha-1 was moved from the degraded area, with the same reduction of 93 % in sediment transport due to soil covering. These results indicate that the technique of revegetation with cover plants may be used to detain the sand in degraded areas.
degradation; revegetation; eolic transport of sand; land reclamation
