Soil erodibility in areas under citrus (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) and forest in Rond?nia, Brazil

Few studies have studied soil erodibility in areas that have undergone conversion processes from native forests to agricultural areas, especially in agricultural frontier regions. The present study aimed to evaluate soil erodibility in areas with citrus (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) and forest under different uses in Southern Rondonia, Brazil, using multivariate statistics and geostatistics. A 42 x 30 m grid with regular spacing between sample points of 6 x 6 m was established for the studied native forest and citrus areas at depths of 0.00-0.20 m. At each sampling point, samples with preserved structures in the studied layer were collected to quantify organic carbon and soil texture, totaling 288 samples in the two studied areas. It was observed that the area cultivated with citrus showed a greater predisposition of the soil to suffer interrill erosion (Kiwepp). The citrus area also presented a greater susceptibility of the soil to suffer rill erosion (Krwepp); however, this area showed high values of critical shear stress, which signals the soil's resistance to the beginning of the erosive process. On the other hand, the forest area showed a greater predisposition to suffer erosion (K-factor), possibly linked to the high values of silt and sand, favoring the present erodibility conditions.