A considerable fraction of the area under natural pastures in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) - Brazil, presents acid soils and, if correctly managed, can be used for grain production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in the chemical characteristics of an acid natural pasture field soil after receiving lime and being cultivated under different managements. Two experiments were conducted: one in the field and the other in soil columns in the laboratory. The field experiment was installed in 1993 in a natural pasture area in a Rhodic Paleudult soil, located in Cruz Alta (RS). Four lime rates were applied (0, 2, 4 and 6 t ha-1), followed by no-tillage soil cultivation, without lime incorporation, and under conventional tillage,with incorporation into the soil. After 42 months of continuous cropping with anual species, soil samples were collected in different soil layers. At the same time, undeformed soil samples were collected in columns in the plots that had not received lime application, under both tillage systems, and at an adjacent area under natural conditions. Two lime rates (0 and 6 t ha-1) were surface-applied in the columns and submitted to weekly simulated rain for a 25 week period. The soil in both experiments was analyzed in different layers. While the chemical characteristics were uniform in the mobilized soil layer for lime incorporation in the conventional tillage, there were changes in the soil profile by applying lime on the surface under the no-tillage system.The intensity and depth of the affected layers were proportional to the applied rates. The changes were higher in the natural field than in the conventional and no-tillage soil by surface applying lime in undeformed soil columns submmited to simulated rain. Soil use for 42 months with annual crops substantially modified the original soil chemical characteristics of the natural field condition, regardless of the soil tillage system.
lime rates; no-tillage; conventional tillage