SPATIAL DEPENDENCE OF SOIL SODICITY AND TREE GROWTH IN A NATRIC HAPLUSTALF

Abstract

THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO INVESTIGATE INHERENT VARIATION IN pH , SODIUM ABSORPTION RATIO , P AND K OF A TYPIC NATRIC HAPLUSTALF, GROWTH OF SHISHAM ( DALBERGIA SISSOO ROXB EX DC) AND THEIR INTERDEPENDENCIES. ROOT ZONE SOIL WAS SAMPLED ON A 6 BY 6 m GRID AT 162 LOCATIONS ( 18 ROWS BY 9 COLUMNS) OF A FIELD AT 0.3 m DEPTH INCREMENTS UPTO 1.2 m AND ANALYZED. DEPENDING ON THE DEPTH AND SOIL PROPERTIES , TREND VARIATION RANGED FROM 14 TO 47% ( OVERALL AVERAGE 27%) OF THE TOTAL VARIANCE. CORRESPONDING COMPONENT OF THE TREE- HEIGHT HETEROGENEITY VARIED FROM 16 TO 20% DURING THE FOUR OBSERVATION YEARS. TEN TO 74% OF THE REMAINING SOIL VARIABILITY , DEPENDING ON SOIL LAYER AND PROPERTIES WAS ISOTROPICALLY SPATIALLY STRUCTURES. THUS, ON AN AVERAGE ABOUT 30% OF THE TOTAL SOIL VARIABILITY WAS STRUCTURED , SIMILARLY THE STRUCTURAL COMPONENT OF TREE- HEIGHT VARIATION RANGED FROM 35 TO 46% OF THE SILL DURING 4 YEARS. THEREFORE, 33%( AVERAGE 4 YEARS) OF THE TREE - HEIGHT VARIANCE WAS STRUCTURED, SPATIAL CORRELATIONS OF SOIL PROPERTIES WITH TREE GROWTH WERE ELABORATED THROUGH CROSS- SEMI VARIOGRAMS . SPATIALLY SENSITIVE STATISTICAL PROCEDURES FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF LAND QUALITIES , TECHNOLOGIES AND SOIL - PLANT RELATIONSHIPS ARE RECOMMENDED.