Soil degradation under cultivation results mainly from the inadequate management and it reflects in low crop yields. With the purpose of evaluating the effect of legumes on physical attributes and organic carbon content of an Alfisol, an experiment was conducted in the Alagoinha County-PB, Brazil, between 1997 and 1999, with the following species: Crotalaria juncea L, Cajanus cajan L, Cajanus cajan (L) Millsp, Calopogonium mucunoides L, Canavalia ensiforme L, Dolichos lab lab L, Pueraria phaseoloides L, Macroptilium atropurpureum L, Leucaena leucocephala L, Clitoria ternatea L, Styzolobium aterrimum L, Styzolobium cinereum Piper and Tracy, besides a plot with spontaneous vegetation as control treatment. A randomized split plot design was used with thirteen treatments in the main plot (12 legumes + 1 control treatment) and three split-plot treatments were represented by the three soil sampling depths 0.00-0.10; 0.10-0.20; and 0.20-0.30 m, with three replications. Under the experimental climate and soil conditions during the three years of study, it was observed that the cultivation of legumes in the plots did not affect the organic carbon content, density, total porosity, water-dispersible clay, and aggregate stability of the soil in comparison to the control treatment.
green manure; management; aggregation; physical characteristics
