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Characterization of Major Soil Orders in Syria

  • GENESIS AND GEOGRAPHY OF SOILS
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Abstract

Soil is one of the most important natural resources that should be studied and characterized to provide decision-makers with sufficient information for reconstruction plans after the current war. The objective of this study is to describe the main soil orders in Syria and give an overview of their properties. Therefore, more than 150 soil profiles have been described. Soil samples were analyzed to develop a good database for the study area. Afterwards, the soil profiles were classified according to the USDA Soil Taxonomy. The results showed that the most common orders are Aridisols, Inceptisols, Entisols, Vertisols, Mollisols, and to a certain extent Alfisols. The study also demonstrated the importance of climate and topography for soil formation in Syrian environments.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for constructive comments and suggestions to considerably improving the quality of this manuscript. Special thanks extend to Dr. Samar Ghanem (Department of Soil and Water Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria) for her unlimited support.

Funding

This study was supported by the Higher Education Institutional Excellence Programme of the Ministry of Human Capacities in Hungary, within the framework of the 4th thematic programme of the University of Debrecen, and the projects “GINOP-2.2.1-15-2016-00001 Developing a scale independent complex precision consultancy system” and “EFOP-3.6.3-VEKOP-16-2017-00008”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, Institute of Land Use, Technology and Regional Development, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    S. Mohammed & E. Harsányi

  2. Faculty of Agricultural, Department of Soil Science, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria

    H. Habib

  3. Department of Natural Resources Management, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, Damascus, Syria

    A. Khallouf, S. Kiwan, S. Alhenawi & H. Ali

  4. Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Sciences, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    J. Kátai

  5. Faculty of Agricultural, Department of Soil Science, Al-Baath University, Homs, Syria

    A. Khallouf

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  1. S. Mohammed
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Correspondence to S. Mohammed.

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Supplementary materials are available for this article at DOI: 10.1134/S1064229320040109 and are accessible for authorized users.

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Mohammed, S., Khallouf, A., Kiwan, S. et al. Characterization of Major Soil Orders in Syria. Eurasian Soil Sc. 53, 420–429 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229320040109

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