Cerrado’s Oxisols present, frequently, balanced distribution of aggregate size. However, when cultivated, may change with negative consequences for agricultural production. With the aim of studying the particle size distribution, density and porosity of aggregates of different sizes, samples were taken under two soil covers (cerrado vegetation and another area under maize crop for thirty years) in two depths (0-5 and 5-10 cm). The studied factors were the vegetal cover and five aggregate classes (2.0-1.0, 1.0-0.5, 0.5-0.25, 0.25-0.105 and < 0.105 mm), separated by the dry sieving method. In these materials the proportion, particle size distribution and density of the aggregates by the method of cement powder were determined, calculating the porosity intra-aggregate. The cerrado samples showed geometric mean diameter greater than those sampled in soil cultivated with maize. Considering the aggregate class, the smaller size of the aggregate resulted in greater proportion of clays, lower aggregate density and higher intra-aggregate porosity due to exclusion of sand with a size larger than the aggregates of the class in study.
soil structure; texture; micro porosity; cerrado; maize
