Monitoring the Effects of Sea Level Rise on some Soil Properties Related to Salt Affected Soils in Agricultural Areas of Lower Central Plain, Thailand

A rise in the sea level is one of the main environmental issues facing the world.  However, little attention has been paid to its effects on soil properties, especially in agricultural areas. Herein, we implemented to monitor the effects of a rise in sea level on some soil properties related to salt affected soils in agricultural areas on Lower Central Plain, Thailand and determine the severity of salt impact during different periods in these areas. All soils were deep, poorly drained and mainly fine textured, with a minimally developed soil horizon. The soil moisture varied between 20.84 and 79.04%. Soil electrical conductivity (EC e ) in saturation paste extracts varied substantially between locations, depth levels, and periods of soil sampling, ranging from 0.21 to 4.42 dS m -1 .               The sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) values of these soils during the periods of soil sampling were rather higher than 13 in either some or all layers of the soil profiles, ranging between 6.80 and 41.89. These results suggested that many of the study locations were affected by salts and all sites could be classified as sodic soils with the classification increasing to saline-sodic soils in locations N4 in April, N5 in March, July and August, and P4 in March. Thus, during these times it was possible that the increased salt levels were due to the rising sea level compared to during May and June when there was high precipitation.