Water erosion extracts nutrients from farming areas and causes soil impoverishment and environmental contamination outside the erosion site. A rotating-boom rainfall simulator operated at a constant rainfall intensity of 64 mm h-1 and 0.2083 MJ ha-1 mm-1 kinetic energy was used to investigate nutrient and organic carbon losses by water erosion and related parameters in six management systems in corn and bean crops. The experiments were carried out on a clayey loam structured soil (Hapludox) with 0.165 m m-1 average slope on the Southern Plateau of Santa Catarina State, Brazil, from March 2001 to April 2003. Three rainfall simulations were applied to the corn and three to the bean crop according to the following treatments: plowing + disking (bare soil) (SSC), corn and bean crop under plowing + disking on desiccated residue (PCO), corn and bean crop under no-tillage on desiccated residue on previously prepared soil (SDI), corn and bean crop under no-tillage on desiccated residue on never prepared soil (SDD), corn and bean crop under no-tillage on burned residue on never prepared soil (SDQ), and improved native pasture (CNM). Results showed that nutrients and organic carbon concentrations in runoff sediments were higher under conservation tillage than conventional tillage, while the total losses presented inverse behavior. In the water of the runoff, NH4+ and NO3- concentrations and losses were higher in the corn than in bean while P was lower. K concentrations were higher in corn and losses lower. Soil impoverishment rates were generally close to the unit for nutrients and organic carbon. Nutrients and organic carbon concentrations in erosion sediments were linearly and positively correlated with the chemical composition of the 0-0.025 m soil layer.
runoff nutrient; water nutrient; sediment nutrient
