Open AccessSOIL QUALITY EVALUATION IN RANGELAND SOILS IN RELATION TO HEAVY METALS POLLUTION
Author(s) -
E. U. Onweremadu,
I. C. Okoli,
O. O. Emenalom,
M. N. Opara,
E.T. Eshett .
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
estudos de biologia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1980-590X
pISSN - 0102-2067
DOI - 10.7213/reb.v28i63.22722
Subject(s) - environmental science , soil water , transect , soil test , organic matter , heavy metals , soil quality , pollution , soil fertility , soil organic matter , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental chemistry , soil science , geology , ecology , chemistry , biology , geotechnical engineering
Heightened anthropogenic activities at the study site necessitated this investigation on soil quality. A transect soil survey technique was used to link sampled points from an open dumpsite towards the river valley. Three minipedons were dug and sampled per location and collected samples were used for various laboratory analyses. Results showed that soils of the dumpsite (OB1) had the highest soil quality morphological index (SQMI) value of 3.82, indicating best quality while the least SQMI was found in the ranch (SQMI = 1.27). The SQMI had significant correlations with OM (organic matter) (r=0.82; p=0.001; n=72), clay (r=65; p=0.01; n=72), pH(r=0.58; p=0.01; n=72) and bulk density (r=0.71; p=0.05; p=0.05; n=72). Although there were positive correlations between SQMI and copper and cadmium, heavy metals were poor predictors of SQMI, indicating that soil quality evaluation by SQMI assesses mainly soil physical fertility.