The Disastrous Effects of Soil Salinity and pH on Environmental Systems

Abstract

Soil salinity is a natural element of arid and semi-arid climates and it is becoming a growing concern in the soils across the world. When water-soluble salts build in a soil, it gets salinized. These salts contain chloride, sulphate, carbonate, bicarbonate and sodium in addition to potassium and magnesium. Due to shortage of oxygen, soil with a high salt level becomes incapable of supporting plant and animal life. This review discusses the causes of salinity, its impact on plant growth, their limits/standard in the environment systems and case studies of saline land. Besides this, salinity levels in streams and lands are generally rising as a result of rising groundwater levels. Most of the rural and urban communities have lost productive cropland and water supplies due to natural instability to these environments and human induced interferences. Crop productivity, seed germination soil and water quality are adversely affected by soil salinity. A coastal region is also particularly vulnerable to climate change. There is a need to study soil salinization and its measures in detail for sustainable environmental systems.