The present study was conducted in areas of large-scale soybean cultivation under long-term no-till (NT). Soil samples from depths of 0.0-0.10 (L1), 0.10-0.20 (L2) and 0.20-0.40 m (L3) were obtained from 65 commercial farms characterized by a high soybean yield in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Oxisols were the predominant soils in these farms, which were located within the Cerrado Biome, and the main textural classes were loamy sand, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, sandy clay and clay. The following physical properties of soil were measured: penetration resistance, bulk density, particle density, total porosity, field moisture capacity, saturation and residual moisture contents, soil water retention curve (SWRC), inflection point, plant available water, n and α parameters of the Van Genuchten equation, S index, and clay and sand contents. In addition, the soil organic matter (SOM) and its densimetric fractions were also determined. The average soybean yield of the studied areas in the last three years was 4.13 Mg ha-1; however, 26 farms had yielded above 4.20 Mg ha-1. Only some of the physical properties at L1 layer, including the penetration resistance, bulk density and the porosity-related parameters, were significantly related with the soybean yield. The SOM and its fractions were directly influenced by the clay or sand contents. In conclusion, the areas with higher productivity under long-term NT showed an adequate S index at three studied layers with values of 0.11, 0.67 and 0.84 at L1, L2 and L3 layers, respectively.

Assessing temporal and spatial characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation is necessary to identifying management practices which can reduce the negative environmental effects. Thus, the purpose of this study was to use principal component analysis and spatial autocorrelation to analyze the dynamic characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation in different landform areas in Liaoning Province, China in terms of time and space. An additional objective was to match the changes with the natural and social environment to support the sustainable development of cultivated land fragmentation. The results indicated that the evolutionary trends of cultivated land fragmentation in the central plain area showed a weakening trend, contrary to those observed in the western hilly and the eastern mountainous areas. Moreover, the spatial distribution characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation in the western hilly area were generally “external low internal high” primarily because of the edge density of cultivated land patches. The spatial distribution characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation in the central plain area were generally “external high internal low” primarily because of the number and division of cultivated land patches. The spatial distribution characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation in the eastern mountainous area were generally “south low north high” because of the division of cultivated land patches. These results can provide guidelines for planners, managers, decision-makers and others to formulate regulatory policies, identify land remediation areas, and promote sustainable development of cultivated land.