DETERMINING THE RELATION BETWEEN SOIL PROPERTIES AND SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF NITRARIA SCHOBERI LINN. USING GEOSTATISTICAL ANALYSIS: A CASE STUDY IN MEIGHAN PLAYA IN IRAN

This study is an assessment of the relation of the spatial variability of Nitraria schoberi Linn. to the soil properties conducted by using geo-statistical analysis. In an area of 140 ha a regular network from a semi-arid region of Meighan Playa in central Iran was selected. The results showed that statistically most of the variables fit spherical, exponential and Gaussian models. The lowest and the highest coefficients of variation were found with the soil pH (27%) and the density (66%) of Nitraria schoberi, respectively. The semi-variogram analysis showed that the effective range fluctuated from 150 m for silt to 2563.43 m for the acidity of the soil. The electronic conductivity and soil texture showed more spatial dependency than the organic matter.