Evolutive an regressive soil sequences for assessment of soil degradation in desertifield areas of Canary Islands (Spain)

Abstract

The assessment of soil degradation in natural ecosystems must necessarily be 
 performed from a non-conventional perspective, focused on agricultural productivity. Thus, 
 the assessment of soil degradation in natural ecosystems requires the definition of standards 
 with which to compare other soils and thus evaluate their quality. In order to define these 
 standards and manage appropriately the processes involved in the degradation and variation of 
 soil quality, it is necessary to understand and establish in detail the genetic processes that have 
 taken place in that area and have led to the formation of a mature soil, which would be 
 considered to be standard, as a non-degraded soil. In accordance with these ideas, we present 
 in this work the evolutive and regressive succession of the soils and examples of the 
 utilization of this methodology to evaluate soil degradation in arid zones and those in high 
 desertification risk in the Canary Islands.