Vegetation along roadsides reduces soil erosion, increases filtering of water runoff, and acts as a biodiversity corridor. The purpose of this study was to assess soil properties and evaluate their effect on vegetation establishment in roadsides. Furthermore, the effects of shoulder type (paved and unpaved) and time since seeding (0–1 year, 2–4 years, and ≥ 5 years) on soil properties were also evaluated. Roadside soil was sampled from 53 sites in three regions (Panhandle, Southcentral, and Southeastern) in Nebraska, USA. The soil was analyzed for pH, Na, Cl, electrical conductivity, exchangeable sodium percentage, and bulk density and heavy metals. At each site, vegetation was classified into one of four categories, (1) < 10% plant canopy cover; (2) 10 to 50% plant canopy cover; (3) > 50% plant canopy cover dominated by weedy annual grasses and forbs; and (4) > 50% plant canopy cover dominated by seeded perennial grasses. Sodium concentration exceeded the limits that can cause vegetation growth decline in all regions. Sodium and soil bulk density in all regions were clustered with the < 10% plant canopy cover category, meaning that these clustered soil properties have a significant influence on the amount of bare ground and establishment/persistence of vegetation. Heavy metal concentrations (lead, arsenic, zinc, cadmium, and nickel) were less than the thresholder in all regions. It was observed that 12–44% of roadside sites had less than 50% vegetation cover. Roadside soils of paved shoulders had lower Na and Cl concentrations than the roadside soils of unpaved shoulders. The 0–1 year since seeding had higher cadmium, arsenic, and nickel concentrations compared to ≥ 5 years since seeding. Soil degradation declined vegetation establishment along highways, and the degree of soil degradation of these roadsides varied depending on shoulder types and time since seeding.

路边的植被减少了水土流失，增加了径流的过滤，并充当了生物多样性走廊。这项研究的目的是评估土壤性质并评估其对路边植被建立的影响。此外，还评估了肩膀类型（已铺设和未铺设）和播种后的时间（0-1年，2-4年和≥5年）对土壤性质的影响。从美国内布拉斯加州三个地区（潘汉德尔，中南部和东南部）的53个地点取样路边土壤。分析土壤的pH，Na，Cl，电导率，可交换钠百分比以及堆积密度和重金属。在每个地点，植被都分为四类之一：（1）<10％的植物冠层覆盖；（2）植物冠层覆盖率为10％至5​​0％；（3）> 50％的植物冠层被一年生杂草和草类占主导；（4）> 50％的植物冠层被多年生种子草覆盖。钠浓度超过了可导致所有地区植被生长下降的极限。所有区域的钠和土壤容重密度均以<10％的植物冠层覆盖类别进行聚类，这意味着这些聚类的土壤性质对裸地数量和植被的建立/持久性具有重大影响。重金属浓度（铅，砷，锌，镉和镍）在所有区域均低于阈值。据观察，12–44％的路边站点植被覆盖率不到50％。铺设路肩的路旁土壤的Na和Cl含量低于未铺设路肩的路旁土壤。播种后的0-1年镉含量较高，自种子播种以来，砷和镍的浓度≥5年。土壤退化导致高速公路沿线的植被减少，这些路边的土壤退化程度因播种后的肩部类型和时间而异。