Soil quality assessment of certain lands in Khor Sarah area, Aswan governorate, Egypt [electronic resources]

Includes references.

The goals of this study were to (i) determine the land capability classification of 111000 Faddan in southwestern Khor Sarah, Aswan, Upper Egypt, (ii) develop an effective and accurate soil quality indices and (iii) to evaluate the impact of converting barren land (BL) to three land use categories (PN, Peanut; ZM, Zea mays; WT, Wheat) on soil quality (SQ). Twenty-three soil pedons were investigated in order to represent the study area's six landforms. The data show that moderately capable lands account for 56.5% of Khor Sarah soils, while low capable lands account for 27.3% of the entire area. For SQ evaluation, twenty-six soil characteristics were measured as preliminary indicators. Eight physical-morphological characteristics, seven chemical factors, and eleven fertility-biological criteria were all measured at different depths of selected soil pedons as potential SQ indicators. Under all types of land uses, the SQI value under PN was the highest, followed by that under BL, ZM, and WT. PN with good management improved soil quality, whereas other land use types with poor management damaged soil quality. The statistical results showed that elected soil properties were significantly influenced by land-use changes and farm management. Combined the soil indicators of root-restrictive layer depth (R-RLD) and macro-aggregate associated organic carbon (Ma-SOC) may have a better prediction performance for SQ. Four soil quality indices based on R-RLD, ECe, Fe2O3, Ma-SOC, and WHC were developed in this work and can be successfully used to forecast SQ in desert soils of Upper Egypt and other similar regions.
Keywords: Land capability, Soil quality, Root-restrictive layer, Minimum data set, Management.

Summary in Arabic.