Load support capacity of a Oxisol submitted to two alternatives of land use and under natural forest

One of the main factors that contribute to the degradation of the soils around the world is compaction, whose causes include inadequate forest and agricultural practices. The type and intensity of these managements alter the structure of the soils and compromise the physical quality of the areas. The pre consolidation pressure (PP) is an efficient and important tool for the analysis of soil compaction. This study aims to analyze the Load Support Capacity of a Oxisol submitted to two alternative soil managements and to a natural forest, located in Curvelo, MG. Undeformed and deformed samples were collected in the areas of Cerrado (CE), Integration of Crop Livestock and Forestry area (ILPF) and Native Forest (FN) for analysis of texture and organic matter. To obtain the pre consolidation pressure (PP) and the definition of the Load Support Capacity models of the Oxisol, the samples were submitted to a uniaxial compression essay, utilizing a consolidometer. The areas corresponding to the ILPF and CE did not present significant differences between them in PP, because both of the areas have suffered animal stomping and or machinery traffic. On the other side, there was a significant difference between the ILPF system and the CE as for the FN soil, in which the first two land uses presented a higher PP. To explain why the FN presented a lower PP, the higher availability of organic matter (MO) in this environment must be taken into account, since the MO promotes less load pressure applied to the structure of the soil.