Differences in the Soil Quality Index for Two Contrasting Mediterranean Landscapes in Southern Spain

José A. Sillero-Medina, Paloma Hueso-González and José D. Ruiz-Sinoga
Additional contact information
José A. Sillero-Medina: Department of Geography, Universidad Malaga. Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Paloma Hueso-González: Department of Geography, Universidad Malaga. Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Málaga, Spain
José D. Ruiz-Sinoga: Department of Geography, Universidad Malaga. Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Málaga, Spain

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Soil quality indexes (SQIs) are very useful in assessing the status and edaphic health of soils. This is particularly the case in the Mediterranean area, where successive torrential rainfall episodes give rise to erosion and soil degradation processes; these are being exacerbated by the current climate crisis. The objective of this study was to analyze the soil quality in two contrasting Mediterranean watersheds in the province of Malaga (Spain): the middle and upper watersheds of the Rio Grande (sub-humid conditions) and the Benamargosa River (semi-arid conditions). Field soil sampling was carried out at representative sites, and the soils were subsequently analyzed for various edaphic properties in the laboratory. From the resulting data, the mean values have been grouped and reclassified, and, based on a multicriteria evaluation, an SQI for the study region was generated. The results show that there are major differences between the two watersheds, with optimal soil quality values being found in the Rio Grande watershed (very high soil quality—34.26%), but more unfavorable values occurring throughout most of the Benamargosa River watershed (very low soil quality—63.33%). Thus, these results have been subjected to a validation process in the field.

Keywords: Mediterranean; degradation; soil quality index; climate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/11/405/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/11/405/ (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:9:y:2020:i:11:p:405-:d:434252

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 ().