Physicochemical and microbiological properties of soil in a municipal park in Tangara da Serra, MT, a transition area between Amazonia and Cerrado

The Ilto Ferreira Coutinho Municipal Nature Park in Tangara da Serra, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, has a transition vegetation of "Cerrado" to Amazonian forest and encompasses three different areas classified as: leisure area, altered area, and natural reserve area, according to their state of degradation and use. The objectives of this work were to study some of the physicochemical and microbiological (bacteria and fungi) properties of the soil, analyze the influence of the dry and rainy seasons on these soil properties, and estimate the indices of bacterial diversity, homogeneity and richness in the soil of these three areas. Soil samples were collected in August 2005 and March 2006 and were subjected to physicochemical analyses in a specialized laboratory. Analyses of pH, humidity and total fungi and bacterial counts were carried out at UNEMAT's Laboratory of Microbiology. Bacterial diversity was calculated based on the Shannon-Wiener index and bacterial richness and uniformity by the Pielou index. The microbial community (fungi and actinomycetes) and the values of pH, organic matter, organic carbon and humidity were found to differ between areas and the dry and rainy seasons. In the rainy season, the growth of actinomycetes was inhibited, probably due to the high humidity. Diversity, homogeneity and richness indices were low, probably due to the constant anthropic action in the park.Original Abstract: O Parque Natural Municipal Ilto Ferreira Coutinho, localizado em Tangara da Serra-MT, possui uma vegetacao de transicao entre Cerrado e Floresta Amazonica e apresenta tres diferentes areas denominadas: area de lazer, area alterada e reserva natural, conforme o seu estado de degradacao e de utilizacao. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram: estudar algumas propriedades fisico-quimicas e microbiologicas (bacterias e fungos) do solo; analisar a influencia dos periodos seco e chuvoso nestas propriedades do solo e estimar os indices de diversidade, uniformidade e riqueza bacteriana do solo das areas estudadas. As amostras de solo foram coletadas nos meses de agosto de 2005 e marco de 2006 e as analises fisico-quimicas foram realizadas em um laboratorio especializado. As analises de pH, umidade e contagem total de fungos e bacterias foram realizadas no Laboratorio de Microbiologia da UNEMAT. A diversidade bacteriana foi calculada atraves do indice de Shannon-Wiener e a riqueza e uniformidade pelo indice de Pielou. Houveram diferencas nos valores da comunidade micr