Assisting Non-Soil Experts to Identify Soil Types for Land Management to Support Restoration of Arid Rangeland Native Vegetation in Kuwait

Abstract

Conventional soil survey information is often unclear except to specialists and experienced soil experts who are in short supply to meet user demands. An approach using a special purpose soil identification key and conceptual toposequence models was developed to assist non-soil experts with identifying soil types in Kuwait. The approach supports the restoration of Kuwait rangelands, where there is a need to assist revegetation success by removing uncertainty regarding soil conditions and targeting the planting of appropriate vegetation communities to the soil type. Legacy data from soil survey reports were available for reinterpretation. The soil identification key developed is in a matrix form and allowed soil types to be determined by the presence or absence of three recognizable soil features, which generally typify arid zone soils worldwide: hardpan, gypsum, and calcium carbonate. The soil type categories are descriptively named for ease of understanding by non-technical users, and were structured to align with the previously identified Soil Taxonomy classes to maintain linkages with the soil survey and other interpreted information. To complement the soil identification key, conceptual soil toposequence models presented the general soil distribution patterns in a visual format to aid understanding of spatial variation and soil type relationships. The approach is flexible and can be scaled with additional criteria as more knowledge is acquired regarding the relationship between soil types and vegetation communities, and while the detail is applicable to Kuwait the approach could be adjusted and applied elsewhere.