SEASONAL VARIATIONS IN SALINITY AND HUMIDITY AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE GENESIS OF THE SOILS OF A SAN LUIS SALINE WETLAND
Keywords:
Soil genesis, Halo-hydromorphic soils, soil-plant relationshipAbstract
Wetlands are permanent or frequently flooded environments, which determines the development of hydromorphic soils and hydrophytic vegetation. When the water is saline, on the other hand, halomorphic soils and halophytic vegetation develop. Salts are important in the formation and evolution of soils, and their classification. Our objective was to study its genesis in saline depressions of the San Luis province (Argentina). The area studied was the depression called “Bajo Las Saladas”, located at 33º 37´ South latitude and 65º 25´ West longitude, with an area of 120.7 ha and a maximum elevation of 505 masl. By means of photointerpretation, the physiognomic types of vegetation were precisely delimited. Several follow-up plots were located in each physiognomic type, the depth to the water table was determined and pits were made in each one of them. The horizons were sampled, analyzed and the soils were classified taxonomically. In the flat sector, the halophilic forest and in the saline depression the physiognomic types halophilic scrub, patches of creeping halophilic shrub, open and dense halophilic meadows, and saline beaches were identified. The halophilic scrub (dominated by Atriplex spp.) Occupies the least saline soils, with a higher pH and a deeper water table. In more humid and saline soils, patches of creeping halophilic shrub (dominated by Sarcocornia neei) and open meadows of Distichlis spicata appear. In the most depressed and humid positions there are dense meadows of D. spicata and in the areas with greater waterlogging and anoxia, the saline beaches do not present vegetation. The soils were classified as typic Haplustolls in the halophilic forest, typic Ustortents or typic Epiaquents in the halophyte scrub areas and typic Epiaquents, with different distribution of horizons, some with gley horizons, in the remaining areas. Several factors intervene jointly in the genesis of these soils, such as groundwater depth, salinity, microtopographic position, texture, and degree and duration of waterlogging.
References
Álvarez-Rogel, J., Alcaraz Ariza, F. & Ortiz Silla, R. 2000. Edaphic gradients and plant zonation in Mediterranean saltmarshes of SE Spain. Wetlands, 20, 357-372.
Álvarez-Rogel, J., Jiménez-Cárceles F.M., Roca, M.J. & Ortiz Silla, R. 2007. Changes in soils and vegetation in a Mediterranean coastal salt marsh impacted by human activities. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 73(3), 510-526.
Barbosa, O.A., Pacheco, M.C., Mores, J.L. y J Álvarez-Rogel. 2012. Propiedades edáficas de un humedal salino de San Luis (Argentina). X Congreso Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Ingeniería Agrícola y XLI Congresso Brasileiro de Engenharia Agrícola. Londrina, Brasil.
Barbosa, O.A. 2020. Relaciones entre los tipos fisonómicos de vegetación y los suelos de un bajo salino del centro este de San Luis (Argen-tina). [Tesis doctoral] Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina.
Costa, C., Ortíz Suárez, A, Miró, .C., Chiesa, J., Gardini, G., Carugno, A. Ojeda, G., Guerstein, P., Tognelli, G., Morla, P. y Strasser, E. 2005. Hoja Geológica 3366-IV Villa Mercedes.
González-Alcaraz, M.N., Jiménez-Cárceles, F.J. & Álvarez-Rogel, J. 2014. Gradients of soil salinity and moisture, and plant distribution, in a Mediterranean semiarid saline watershed: a model of soil–plant relationships for contributing to the management. Catena, 115, 150-158.
Greenway, H., Armstrong, W. & Colmer, T.D. 2006.Conditions Leading to High CO2 (>5 kPa) in Waterlogged–Flooded Soils and Possible Effects on Root Growth and Metabolism. Annals of Botany, 988(1), 9–32
Hinsinger, P., Bengough, A.G., Vetterlein, D. & Young, I.M. 2009. Rhizosphere: biophysics, biogeochemistry and ecological relevance. Plant and Soil, 321, 117-152.Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC). 1990. Métodos Analíticos del Laboratorio de Suelos. 5 Ed. Subdirección Agrológica. Bogotá, Colombia.
Imbellone, P.A. y Zárate, M.A. 1983. Glébulas sesquioxídicas en un Argialbol. General Mansilla. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ciencia del Suelo, 1, 173-181.
Imbellone, P.A., Giménez, J.E. y Panigatti J.L. 2010. Suelos de la Región Pampeana. Procesos de formación. Ediciones INTA.
Imbellone, P.A. 2018. Guía de descripción e interpretación de suelos hidromórficos. En: Quiroga, A., Fernández, R. y Álvarez, C. (Eds). Aná-lisis y evaluación de propiedades físico hídrica de los suelos. Ediciones INTA Centro Regional La Pampa-San Luis.
Imbellone, P.A., Taboada, M.A., Damiano, F. & Lavado R.S. 2021. Genesis, Properties and Management of Salt-Affected Soils in the Flooding Pampas, Argentina. In: Taleisnik, E & Lavado, R. Saline and Alkaline Soils in Latin America Natural Resources, Management and Productive Alternatives. Springer.
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) y Gobierno de la provincia de San Luis. 2000. Carta de suelos de la República Argen-tina. Hoja Villa Mercedes.
Klute A (ed.) 1986. Methods of soil analysis. Part 1 and 2. Agronomy Nº 9. ASA-SSSA, Madison, Wisconsin.
Lavado, R.S. 1978. Algunas causas en la variabilidad en el contenido salino de un salortide pampeano y su influencia en el muestreo. Turrialba, 28(4), 315-324
Lavado R.S & Taboada, M.A. 1988. Water, salt and sodium dynamics in a natraquoll in Argentina. Catena, 15(6), 577-594.
Lavado, R.S., Rubio, G. & Alconada, M. 1992. Grazing management and soil salinization in two pampean Natraqualfs. Turrialba, 42, 500-508.
Pacheco, M.C., Barbosa, O.A., Mores, J.L. & Álvarez-Rogel, J. 2010. Physiognomy of the central sector of the “Bajo Las Saladas” (San Luis, Argentina). Biocell, 35(1), A24.
Page, A.L. (Ed), 1984. Methods of Soils Analysis. Part. 2. 2nd Edition. American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America. Madison, Wisconsin.
Piñeiro, A. y Panigatti, J.L. 1972. Génesis de un suelo planosol. Revista de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Serie 3 (IX), 1-27.
Reddy, K.R. & DeLaune R.D. 2008. Biogeochemistry of Wetlands: Science and Applications. 1st ed. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, EEUU.
Richards, L.A. 1974. Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. USDA. U.S. Goverment Printing Office. Washington DC.
Richardson, J.L. & Vepraskas, M.J. (Ed.). 2000. Wetland Soils. CRC Press. LLC.
Sistema de Apoyo Metodológico para Laboratorios de Suelos y Aguas (SAMLA). 1995. SAGyP de la Nación, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Soil Science Division Staff. 2017. Soil survey manual. In: Ditzler, C., Scheffe C., & Monger H.C (eds.). USDA Handbook 18. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Soil Survey Staff. 2014. Keys to Soil Taxonomy. United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Service. 12fth edition, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, USA.
Taboada, M.A. y Lavado, R.S. 1986. Características del régimen ácuico de un Natracuol de la Pampa Deprimida. Ciencia del Suelo, 4, 66-72.
Tiner, R. 1999. Wetland indicators. A guide to wetland identification, delineation, classification, and mapping. Lewis Publishers, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
Villota, H. 1997. Una nueva aproximación a la clasificación fisiográfica del terreno. Revista CIAF, 15,83-115.
