Soil Quality of Die off and Die Back Mangrove Grown at Al-Jubail Area (Saudi Arabia) of the Arabian Gulf

Abstract

The declining mangrove vegetation along the Arabian Gulf coast necessitates a thorough study for finding out the soil status and for rehabilitating the affected population. In this study, soil supporting die back/die off mangrove plants at Al-Jubail area was studied. Field experiments were also conducted to determine the success/failure ratio of the germinated seeds in both healthy and damaged soils. Obtained results showed that high damage was in the soil of sand mound sites because only 19 % of mangrove fresh seeds could germinate in this site, while low damage was recorded in the soil of inter-tidal sites where germination rate was about 32%. High decrease in C_TMB was noticed at the inter-tidal sites compared to other damaged sites, while no significant differences were noticed between all damaged sites in C_AMB, BR and DEA. Compared to controlled conditions, values of all anions were significantly high at all studied sites. Values of all major and minor elements at all damaged sites were also significantly high compared to controlled conditions. This study concluded that soils with higher quality were degraded more rapidly, because they usually need more nutrient input to maintain their quality status than those with lower quality. These analyses show that it is of equal importance to improve soil quality in degraded locations and to sustain it in high-quality areas.