The objective of this study was to estimate the relative soil bulk density (RD) from a pedotransfer function of maximum bulk density (MBD). Undisturbed and disturbed soil samples of 10 soils, under no tillage, established for more than 10 years, were collected in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, at 5 to 30 cm depths. Granulometry, organic matter (OM), bulk density (BD) and MBD were determined by Proctor test. A pedotransfer function was developed with these values to obtain the MBD from the clay and OM contents in the soil. Our conclusion is that the MBD = 2.03133855 - 0.00320878 OM - 0.00076508 clay function can be used to estimate the RD of the soils studied.
soil compaction; no-tillage; texture; organic matter
