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Central to human life and civilization, soils are an integral part
of the physical and cultural environment. Although we may take them
for granted, the rise and fall of civilizations is closely linked
with the use and abuse of soil and water resources. It is therefore
important to evaluate soils for their quality and link them to
appropriate uses and services. This book provides information on
soil classification and shows how to key out taxa relevant to UAE
soils. The latest soil inventory of United Arab Emirates reveals
that a rather uniform looking desert landscape has, in fact, a
diversity of subsurface features. These features confirm the soil
diversity in terms of classification, chemistry, physics,
mineralogy, fertility, suitability for different uses and
vulnerability to land degradation. United Arab Emirates Keys to
Soil Taxonomy presents information for keying out the soils of the
United Arab Emirates into separate classes and provides a guide to
associated laboratory methods. The classification used
predominantly is extracted from the 11th edition of the USDA-NRCS
Keys to Soil Taxonomy, and sections relevant to the soils found in
the UAE are included here. Primarily, this key is designed to fit
the soil system of the United Arab Emirates. Information not found
in the USDA key has been added, including criteria and classes for:
1) differentiating anhydritic soils from gypsic soils, 2)
identifying "lithic" subgroups for Aquisalids and Haplosalids, 3)
identifying "salidic" subgroups within the great groups of Gypsids,
Calcids, Psamments, and Orthents, and 4) incorporation of phases
for soil taxa. A subsurface diagnostic horizon and mineralogy class
(anhydritic), not reported earlier in the world soil literature
and, recently found in the UAE, has also been added to the book.
The book also offers a mechanism for updating the current soil
surveys, and will facilitate the correlation of soils from new
surveys in the UAE. Additionally, it will help the international
soil science community to converse about UAE soils, and facilitate
comparison to soils of other regions. These linkages allow
countries with similar mapping and classification procedures and
similar soils to transfer agriculture technology without conducting
long-term experiments under similar environmental conditions,
especially for Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, Kuwait,
Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia).
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