Determination of some soil characteristics of rangelands in central and western parts of Samsun province

Abstract

This study was carried out in order to determine the physical, chemical, and fertility properties of rangeland soils located in central and western parts of Samsun province. In this concept, 50 soil samples were taken from the study area. In the studied soil, it was found that sand, clay, and silt values of the investigated rangeland soils are 13.45-73.24%, 10.23-65.82%, and 13.88-57.93%, respectively. The pH of the soils varied between medium acid and slightly alkaline, and it was determined that there was no problem in rangelands in terms of salinity. Furthermore, lime and organic matter contents of them were 0.08-41.32% and 1.23-8.16%, respectively. Moreover, it was detected that the available phosphorous contents of the soils changed in the range of 0.2-38.5 kg P2O5 da-1 , the total N contents changed in the range of 0.071-0.479%, extractable K values, Ca, Mg, Na, and B values varied in the ranges of 29-612 mg kg-1 , 322-10590 mg kg-1 , 39-698 mg kg-1 , 36-466 mg kg-1 , and 0.16-6.70 mg kg-1 , respectively. When the useful microelement status of rangeland soils was examined, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Mn were determined to be 3.69-146.96 mg kg-1 , 0.54-6.18 mg kg-1 , 0.16-3.41 mg kg-1 , and 10.97-103.11 mg kg-1 , respectively.