Soil quality is one of the most
important factors in sustaining the global biosphere and developing sustainable
agricultural practices.
Land use and management practices greatly impact the direction and degree of
soil quality changes in time and space. Understanding the effects of land use
and management practices on soil quality and its indicators has been identified
as one of the most important goals for modern soil science. Soil quality
mapping study represents a method for assessing and mapping soil quality changes in time and space in
small units. For the present study, changes in the physical, chemical
parameters and nematode density of the soils in the rural and urban areas of
Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala, were determined. The soil samples were
collected from seven different categories of contaminated soils namely coastal
area, sewage disposal area, industrial area, road-side area, agricultural area,
market area and gasoline station area, and also from two control stations in
rural and urban areas. The soil physico-chemical parameters and nematode density were determined.
Geostatistics combined with GIS was applied to analyze the spatial variability
of soil physico-chemical characteristics and nematode density. This soil
quality mapping study provides a basis for identifying tension zones and serves
as a triggering mechanism for implementation of soil contamination mitigating
strategies.
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