This study was carried out in the Western region of Minas Gerais, Brazil to evaluate the morphological changes in a Yellow-Red Latosol, after a conversion of a 20 year old Brachiaria decumbens pasture, under intensive pasture systems; a pure Brachiaria decumbens and an association of this grass with the legume Stylosanthes guianensis. Through morphological and physical characterization, it could be concluded that: (a) there were structural obstructions to radicular development in the old pasture soil; (b) the soil macrofauna played an essential role in the formation of stable aggregates and in the regeneration of initial compact soil volumes; (c) the fissural porosity under the recovered pastures had compensated the lowest porosity observed in the clods; (d) the recovered pasture's soil's physical constraints were eliminated; (e) the methodological "cultural soil profile" approach seems to be successful for diagnosis under grass cultivation.
cultural profile; aggregate; porosity; cerrado; pasture management