An Ecological Overview of Halophytes and Salt-Affected Soils at El Hito Saline Pond (Central Spain): Baseline Study for Future Conservation–Rehabilitation Measures

Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta (), Santos Cirujano-Bracamonte, Eduardo Palencia-Mayordomo and Mario Álvarez-Soto
Additional contact information
Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta: Department of Geology and Geochemistry, Autónoma University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Santos Cirujano-Bracamonte: Consultores en Biología de la Conservación S.L., 28004 Madrid, Spain
Eduardo Palencia-Mayordomo: Fundación Global Nature, 28231 Madrid, Spain
Mario Álvarez-Soto: Consultores en Biología de la Conservación S.L., 28004 Madrid, Spain

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-18

Abstract: In an attempt to boost the potential ecological viability of wetlands, this study aimed to discover the relationship between soil salinity and vegetation composition in a quasi-pristine saline pond, “El Hito Lagoon”. This wetland is situated in the largest continuous natural semi-arid steppe land of western Europe (specifically in Castilla La Mancha, Central Spain). Several soil profiles and a series of surface samples (0–10 cm) extracted from a systematic network throughout the saline pond were described, sampled, and analyzed. The most significant results included the detection of elevated levels of soil salinity, with distinctive sub-areas of extreme elevated surface salinity where the pH reading peaked at 9.89 and the electrical conductivity was higher than 40 (dS/m). The very high content of total available P displayed quite an irregular scatter within the soil profile. Specifically, the range oscillated between 8.57 mg/kg and 388.1 mg/kg, several samples having values greater than 100 mg/kg. An aspect that the abundant presence of Salsola soda , a plant frequently found growing in nutrient-rich wetlands, was able to confirm.

Keywords: semi-arid environment; Natura 2000 network; halophytic flora; salt stress; soil salinity; ecological environment; basin filling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/449/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/449/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:4:p:449-:d:1368187

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().