Anthropic interventions change the soil properties of savanna palm swamps (veredas) from Central Brazil

Veredas play a key role in maintaining the balance of biogeochemical processes regulating the availability and quality of water resources in the Brazilian Cerrado (savanna) Biome. With the degradation of these ecosystems, evidence of an extremely fragile environment, very susceptible to human intervention have been observed. In this study, four soil profiles (up to one meter deep) were selected from veredas in the central region of Brazil, located in preserved (V1 - vereda in a conservation unit) and anthropized (V2 - vereda surrounded by agricultural activities; V3 - vereda cut by a road; V4 - vereda in urban area) conditions. Morphological, physical, and chemical properties were analyzed, and multivariate analysis (PCA) was performed to identify the processes that may be driving changes in the soils of these studied veredas. The veredas in the anthropized environments presented changes in morphological, physical, and chemical soil properties, where that surrounded by urban (V4) had excessively reduced the organic carbon content (up to similar to 94%) and water retention capacity. The changes in the evaluated properties of these soil profiles were related to the input of organic and inorganic materials, and their natural fertility. These findings support that veredas are complex ecosystems very sensitive to human interventions and suggest that they need to be protected to maintain their ecosystem functions.