Investigating the Effect of planting Haloxylon aphyllum on the Physical and Chemical Properties of Soil (Case study: rangelands of Mahvelat county)

In this research, the effects of Haloxylon aphyllum on physical and chemical charactristics of soil considering the age of the plant was studied. The effects of 2, 5 and 10 years old Haloxylon aphyllum at two depths of 0-30 and 30-60 on physical and chemical properties of soil including total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, soil organic carbon, soil texture, pH, electrical conductivity and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of soil were evaluated. In this research, 30 soil samples from underneath of Haloxylon aphyllum (10 samples for each age and 5 samples for each depth) and 30 samples between the plants were taken and their physicochemical and chemical properties were measured in the laboratory. Then, the data were analyzed using ANOVA and Mann-Whitney tests in SPSS software. The results showed that planting of Haloxylon aphyllum and its age at two studty depths have a significant effect on pH, but has no significant effect on EC. There was no significant difference between the soil texture in the experimental area and the control area, but the amount of sand and silt just for biennial shrubs in both soil depths had significant change. The implantation of Haloxylon aphyllum on N and OC at 0-30 depth has a significant effect, but does not affect the depth of 30-60 cm, but the age of the Haloxylon aphyllum in both depths has a significant effect on N and OC content. Vegetative planting in both depths of 0-30 and 30-60 was not significantly affected by P, K and C/N variables, and the age of the plant in both depths was significant on K soil and at 0-30 with P soil. In general, the results of this study showed that the effect of age on the change in chemical properties of soil is significant and with increasing age of the site (the age of Haloxylon aphyllum grafts) this effect is more evident.