The Role of Pine Forest Trees in Improving Pedo-logical, Physical and Chemical Properties of Sandy Soils | ||
| Assiut Journal of Agricultural Sciences | ||
| Article 7, Volume 41, Issue 1, March 2010, Pages 108-121 PDF (536.43 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ajas.2010.267824 | ||
| Author | ||
| Abdalla E.Beit El-Mal | ||
| Department of Rangelands and Forests, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Fateh University, Tripoli. Libya | ||
| Abstract | ||
| This study was conducted in the the Experimental Station of Agricultural Research Center, Sidi El-Masri area, Tripoli, Libya, where there is a forest of Pine trees of two types (Stone and Aleppo pine), established in the fifties and sixties of the last century. The effect of vegetation cover of pine trees on some pedological, physical, and chemical properties of the sandy soils was investigated by comparing these properties with their counterparts in the nearby area soil, which is still virgin, and does not contain any vegetation cover. The results of this study exhibited that the soil of the area was recently developed and still immature regardless of the presence of the vegetation cover, with the presence of some properties of a surface horizon ( ochric epipedon ) in the soil cultivated with both types of pine trees. Therefore, it was classified to the great group as ( Torriorthents ) according to the Soil Taxonomy. Improvements in some physical properties were occured as compared with the virgin soil such as soil structure and an increase in the water holding capacity of the soil which increased of the soil resistance to the wind and water erosion. Moreover, the results of this study revealed improvement in the chemical properties of the cultivated soil with forest trees, such as increases in the soil organic matter content, essential nutrients for plant such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and increase in micronutrients contents as Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu, in addition to slight decrease in soil pH and CaCO3 content . Also, the results showed that there was no significant variation of the effect of both pine trees types on soil properties. | ||
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