Diagnosis of the Spatial Variability of Soil Nutrients and Economics of Precision Management in Degraded Pastures
, Rubson da Costa Leite 2,*, José Moisés Ferreira Junior 3, Álvaro José Gomes de Faria 4, Sérgio Henrique Godinho Silva 4, Antonio Clementino dos Santos 5 and Rubens Ribeiro da Silva 6Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The study showed interesting results about applied geostatistical methods for diagnosis of pastures in Brazil. The first of all i recommend to check English language: some sentences are long and difficult to read. I also recommend to describe the methods more detail and rewrite (improve) the conclusion. It looks like the authors were tired of writing an article at the conclusion - it is short and uninformative.
Other comments in the attached file.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Reviewer #1:
1- The study showed interesting results about applied geostatistical methods for diagnosis of pastures in Brazil.
Reply: Thank you for the comments and suggestions.
2 - The first of all i recommend to check English language: some sentences are long and difficult to read.
Reply: The English language was corrected and improved. Besides, the text was rewritten in some parts for a better understanding.
3 - I also recommend to describe the methods more detail and rewrite (improve) the conclusion. It looks like the authors were tired of writing an article at the conclusion - it is short and uninformative.
Reply: Done. The method and conclusions were improved.
Line 37: reference is needed.
Reply: a reference was added as solicited.
Line 92-93: “mean annual temperature of 26.7 °C and an average annual rainfall of 1,500 mm” - please write is as new sentence.
Reply: the sentence was corrected and rewritten for better understanding.
Line 93-94: “USDA classification system” - please add the link.
Reply: the reference was added.
Line 95: “Fig. 1” - Figure 1. Check it through the text.
Reply: the abbreviation was corrected and put the complete word in all the manuscript.
Line 104-106: “Ca2+, Mg2+, Al3+, H+Al” - indicate whole names of study properties before short name
Reply: Was corrected. The whole names were put on the text.
Line 106-107: “P, K+” – perhaps P205 and K20. PLEASE CHECK.
Reply: correct form was added on the text.
Line 107: “O.M” – Organic matter? describe, and eliminate the comma.
Reply: Was corrected as solicited and a correct sentence was added.
Line 108: “Table 1” - check the style for tables.
Reply: the tables are according to tables style from template
Line 115: “and K+”.
Reply: the text was improved.
Line 127-137: “Pires [22]” - please describe more detail this approach.
Reply: More details was added as solicited.
Line 155, 158: “Semivariograms” - please indicate the software for kriging and statistical analyses.
Reply: Done. The software was added.
Line 160: “greater” - what does mean "greater". I know just "Coefficient of determination" - R2.
Reply: Done. The sentence as corrected.
Line 166: “In which” replace for “here”.
Reply: Done. Was corrected.
Line 182: “Fig. 2” - please describe more detailed this approach.
Reply: Done. More details were added.
Line 201: “Table 3” - please add the number of observations (n).
Reply: Done.
Line 244: “Figure 4” - please add the scale.
Reply: the scale has been added in figure 1. In the following figures it has been removed to make the figures cleaner.
Line 302: “Pastures in quadrant 2, the pastures” - check the sentence.
Reply: Done. The sentence was improved.
Line 430: “Conclusions” - Conclusions are too short. Please add the information about the objectives, results about kriging, fertilizer application and other highlights.
Reply: Done. The conclusions were improved.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
Title of the paper may be modified.
Material and methods may be improved as suggested in the attachment .
Conclusion section may be strength.
Refrences may be corrected as per the journal guidelines.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Reviewer #2:
Thank you for the comments and suggestions.
1 - Title of the paper may be modified.
Reply: Done. The title was modified as suggested.
2 - Material and methods may be improved as suggested in the attachment.
Reply: Done. The M&M section as improved.
3 - Conclusion section may be strength.
Reply: Was improved.
4 - References may be corrected as per the journal guidelines.
Reply: Done. Reference was corrected.
M & M section:
- Methodology for fertilizer application may be given.
Reply: in the present study the application of fertilizers was not carried out. The study consisted of comparing the amount that would be applied via the conventional method and via precision agriculture techniques (varied rate).
- How much fertilizers were applied under conventional method and variable method?
Reply: Although the application of fertilizers was not carried out, table 4 shows the estimate of quantity and costs comparing the two methods.
- Data on Pasture response to such application may be given.
Reply: the evaluation of the pasture response was not carried out, since the study tried to design and compare the recommendation and management of fertilizers by the traditional method and by the techniques of precision agriculture.
Line 87: “Aw” - Abbreviation may be explained.
Reply: Aw is not an abbreviation, it is a characteristic type of climate, according to Köppen classification. But the text was improved for better understanding.
Line 89-90: Latitude and longitude may be given in degree or decimal format.
Reply: Done. The format was modified.
Line 104-107: Methods used for analysis of Ca, Mg, Al, Texture, etc. may be given.
Reply: the methods used for analysis are located at the bottom of table 1. The methods used were also cited previously, in line 102 – the analysis was made according to Raij et al.
Line 155, 158: Software used for mapping and geospatial analysis may be given.
Reply: Done. The software was added, as suggested.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear authors.
I apologize for correction line 140:
"The choice of the theoretical models of semivariograms was carried out observing the smaller sum of the square of the residuals (SSR) and the greater coefficient of determination (R2)."
The word "greater" is correct in this sense. Its my mistake. Please return this word.
Other corrections from your side were done.
I recommend the article to publish.
