The density and arrangement of trees influences the production of plant residues in coffee agroecosystems. This differentiated input of biomass regulates the contents of soil-C and -N. This study aimed to evaluate the contents of organic C and total N in a Typic Hapludox, in different spacings of (Coffea arabica L.) trees and tree rows. The experiment was carried out from 1992 to 2004 on an experimental farm of EPAMIG, in Machado (Minas Gerais State, Brazil). The treatments consisted of the combination of four distances between tree rows (2.0; 2.5; 3.0 and 3.5 m), three in-row distances (0.5; 0.75 and 1.0 m) and two management systems of crop residues (interline - IL and canopy projection - CP), totaling 24 treatments, arranged randomly in the field in blocks, in 4x3x2 factorial design, with three replications. The soil organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents were measured, apart from the OC/TN ratio. In samples collected in IL, the OC and TN contents were higher than those measured in CP. The cropping spacing influenced the OC contents; highest values were verified when distance between rows was 3.5 m and in-row distances 0.75 and 0.5 m, in the 0-0.05 m layer. Higher accumulation of plant residues, low soil disruption, and, consequently, higher contents of organic matter favors more OC and TN in the IL. Deforestation and coffee cropping for 11 years resulted in decreasing OC contents from 26 % to 38 %, in IL and CP, respectively, and an average reduction of 25 % for TN.
Coffea arabica L.; planting density; soil organic matter
