Abstract This research evaluated the effects of long-term (30 years) winter cover crops under conventional farming system and no-tillage system on edaphic fauna in a Rhodic Hapludox soil, from Paraná State, Brazil. We used three winter cover crops (black oat, hairy vetch and fallow), and as a reference a fragment of natural forest. Soil monoliths were collected at two times, one during the flowering of maize (April 2013) and the other during the flowering of soybean (January 2014). The extraction of the monoliths was carried out in three layers in the soil profile (0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm). Seventeen taxonomic groups were sampled. The density of the edaphic fauna is inversely related to soil depth. The winter crops associated with the no-tillage system in long-term resulted in fauna densities similar to the natural environment, with a higher density (density increase of 2.2x) at a depth of 10-20 cm in areas with black oat. At 0-10 cm depth, black oat and vetch under no-tillage systems resulted in an increase of 62% and 69% (April 2013) and 46 and 44% (January 2014), respectively, in the density of soil fauna, when compared to the same winter crops in conventional farming system.

ABSTRACT The reduction of water quality typically starts in small streams and rivers; tributaries interconnected to major rivers. In this regard, this study aimed to investigate waste disposal of small wine and liquor agribusinesses by monitoring the water quality of two streams, tributaries of the Soturno and Jacuí rivers, located in the Quarta Colônia region the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil. We began monitoring water quality in July 2008 and continued uninterruptedly until May 2009. We collected water samples at three different locations (source, upstream, and downstream) in triplicate, totaling 162 samples. We investigated 24 variables that makeup chemical, physical and biological parameters of water quality. With the results, we concluded that the diffuse sources of pollution in the "Liquor stream" are associated with wastewater of small agribusinesses and nearby residences, in contrast, the source of the "Wine stream" showed the most chemical changes in water quality, and whose diffuse sources of pollution are more associated with agricultural activity than the small agribusinesses activity. The variables of chemical and biological oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen, total iron, total manganese, and total phosphorus presented values higher than those of Class II waters in both streams. Therefore, small agribusinesses need to adequately dispose of the waste in order to meet existing legislation comprehensively.

RESUMEN La reducción de la calidad del agua por lo general comienza en pequeños arroyos y ríos; afluentes que están interconectados para llegar a los principales cauces. Este estudio tiene como objetivo investigar la disposición de residuos en la pequeña agroindustria de vinos y licores en afluentes del Río Soturno y Río Jacuí. Las corrientes que reciben los residuos de las actividades agroindustriales (licores y vinos), ubicado en la región de la cuarta colonia de inmigrantes italianos en Rio Grande do Sul / Brasil fueron monitoreadas. Este proceso comenzó en 07/2008 y continuó ininterrumpidamente hasta 05/2009. Las muestras de agua fueron recolectadas en tres puntos diferentes (al este, aguas arriba y abajo) por triplicado, por un total de 162 muestras. Se investigaron 24 que componen los parámetros químicos, físicos y biológicos de la calidad del agua. Con los resultados, concluimos que las fuentes difusas de contaminación en la “Corriente de licor” están asociadas con aguas residuales de pequeños agronegocios y residencias cercanas, en contraste, la fuente de la “Corriente del vino” mostró la mayor cantidad de cambios químicos en la calidad del agua, y cuyas fuentes difusas de contaminación están más asociadas a la actividad agrícola que a la pequeña actividad agroindustrial. Las variables de demanda química y biológica de oxígeno, oxígeno disuelto, hierro total, manganeso total y fósforo total presentaron valores superiores a los de las aguas Clase II en ambos arroyos. Por lo tanto, las pequeñas empresas agrícolas deben eliminar adecuadamente los desechos para cumplir de manera integral la legislación existente.