Overcoming the Confounding Effects of Salinity on Sodic Soil Research

Author(s)
Dodd, Kylie
Guppy, Christopher
Lockwood, Peter
Publication Date
2010
Abstract
The adverse effects of sodicity on plant growth are difficult to quantify using naturally occurring soils because of the confounding variation in other soil properties, particularly salinity, pH, organic matter, soil nutrients, mineralogy, and texture. We applied a method involving the equilibration of large soil volumes with solutions varying in sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), followed by excess salt removal with solutions of similar SAR but lower ionic strength. Application of this method to a calcareous nonsodic, nonsaline Vertosol from Narrabri, New South Wales, resulted in soils with exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) values between 2% and 25% but with similar magnesium and potassium concentrations and constant electrical conductivity (∼2.7 dS/m). Soil pH and solution phosphorus concentrations automatically increased as the ESP of the soil rose, which is important to consider when addressing plant growth results. This method can successfully minimize the confounding of sodicity with other soil properties that so often plagues sodic soil research.
Citation
Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 41(18), p. 2211-2219
ISSN
0010-3624
1532-2416
Link
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Inc
Title
Overcoming the Confounding Effects of Salinity on Sodic Soil Research
Type of document
Journal Article
Entity Type
Publication

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