S. Ghasemi Pirbaloti, S. Soodaee Moshaee,
Volume 28, Issue 1 (Spring 2024)
Abstract
Since the long-term sustainability of garden ecosystems is dependent on maintaining the soil quality, knowing the condition of the soils and investigating the effects of the activities on the soil properties is very important and effective in ecosystem management. To investigate the soil quality index of almond (Prunus dulcis) orchards under different managed methods in ChaharMahal va Bakhtiari province, soil samples were collected from three points in each orchard and finally classified into 6 groups (Saman, Ben, Shahrekord, Kiar, Ardel, and Farsan). To determine the soil quality index, soil characteristics including pH, EC, total and water-soluble organic carbon, basal and substrate-derived respiration, rhizosphere microbial population, and available soil P and K were analyzed. The results showed that almond orchard management in different regions affected the soil characteristics and the processes evaluated in this study. The monitoring of soil properties showed that pH 7.05 - 8.48, EC 0.23 - 2.91 dS/m, microbial respiration 0.44 - 8.57 mg CO2.100 g-1.day-1, organic carbon 2.09 - 44.79 g/kg, available phosphorus 1.5 - 122.3 mg/kg, and available potassium were between 91.2 - 3038 mg/kg. Soil quality index components including chemical components, microbial activity, microbial population, and soil organic carbon were determined. The contribution of soil salinity to soil quality obtained using factorial analysis was the highest (31%), followed by microbial carbon mineralization coefficient (27%), rhizosphere microbial population (24%), and water-soluble organic carbon (18%). The soil quality index values for Saman, Ben, Shahrekord, Kiar, Ardal, and Farsan almond orchards were 0.46, 0.40, 0.51, 0.67, 0.54, and 0.37, respectively. These values showed that the evaluated soils are suitable for almond production in Shahrekord, Kiar, and Ardal, and for Saman, Ben, and Farsan, there is a need for serious management measures to improve soil quality and increase the sustainability of these agricultural ecosystems.
