Application of Principal Component and Multi-Criteria Analysis to Evaluate Key Physical and Chemical Soil Indicators for Sustainable Land Use Management in Arid Rangeland Ecosystems

Hesham M. Ibrahim (), Zafer Alasmary, Mosaed A. Majrashi, Meshal Abdullah Harbi, Abdullah Abldubise and Abdulaziz G. Alghamdi
Additional contact information
Hesham M. Ibrahim: Department of Soil Sciences, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Zafer Alasmary: Department of Soil Sciences, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Mosaed A. Majrashi: Department of Soil Sciences, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Meshal Abdullah Harbi: National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification, 6336 Northern Ring Br. Rd., An Nafal, P.O. Box 3372, Riyadh 13312, Saudi Arabia
Abdullah Abldubise: National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification, 6336 Northern Ring Br. Rd., An Nafal, P.O. Box 3372, Riyadh 13312, Saudi Arabia
Abdulaziz G. Alghamdi: Department of Soil Sciences, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-35

Abstract: Vast areas of natural rangelands in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) suffer from deterioration due to the scarcity of vegetation cover and poor soil quality. Assessing soil quality in rangelands is crucial to identifying degraded lands and to implementing proper sustainable management practices. In this study, a total data set (TDS) containing 27 physical and chemical soil indicators was generated for three rangelands (Al-Fahyhyl, Al-Sahwa, and Al-Tamryate) in KSA. Principal component analysis (PCA) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis were employed to establish a minimum data set (MDS) and to evaluate key physical and chemical properties affecting soil quality, along with the associated weight factor for each indicator. Results indicated that the MDS represented ≥70% of the total variability of the TDS and accurately estimated the soil quality index (SQI) based on determined physical and chemical soil properties in the study regions. Linear regression indicated high correlation between SQI-TDS and SQI-MDS, with the R 2 ranging between 0.51–0.87. On the surface layer (0–30 cm), the MDS contained seven soil indicators (sand, dispersion ratio (DR), mean weight diameter (MWD), bulk density (BD), total organic carbon (TOC), available phosphorus (Pa), and available potassium (Ka)), whereas in the sub-surface layer it contained six indicators (sand, DR, MWD, BD, TOC, Pa, and Ka). In all regions, sand had the largest weight factor (0.4514–0.4835), followed by TOC (0.2441–0.2512). Under the arid climate present in all the study sites, sand and TOC levels are crucial for nutrient retention, soil structure, and water retention. Most of the study areas had very low and low SQI (Al-Fahyhyl, 74.4%; Al-Sahwa, 61.8%; and Al-Tamryate, 81.7%), indicating an immediate need for suitable agricultural practices such as reduced tillage, increased organic amendments, and proper water management. The outcomes of this study offer valuable insights for land managers, legislators, and agricultural stakeholders to pinpoint regions in need of development, conduct comprehensive and continuous monitoring of SQI in rangeland areas, and implement land management plans for rangeland rehabilitation and environmental sustainability.

Keywords: rangelands; soil quality index (SQI); soil indicators; principal component analysis (PCA); minimum data set (MDS); environmental sustainability; arid ecosystems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/11/2167/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/11/2167/ (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:14:y:2025:i:11:p:2167-:d:1783592

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 ().