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Salt-Affected Soils and Their Native Vegetation in Hungary

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Sabkha Ecosystems

Part of the book series: Tasks for Vegetation Science ((TAVS,volume 46))

Abstract

Approximately 13% of Hungary is considered to be salt-affected and with this large extent it is unique in Europe. There are large areas of naturally saline and sodic soils, but also secondary salinization is known to occur. Due to the geological and hydrological conditions, the country demonstrates the most characteristic features of natural continental (not marine) salinization, sodification and alkalinization. Since the most important direct source of soil salinization is the shallow groundwater level below the lowland surface, there is a chance of irrigation-related salinization in two dominant situations: when the abundant use of river waters causes waterlogging and rise of saline groundwater (salinization from below); and when typically saline tubewell-waters are used for irrigation (salinization from above). The spatial assessment of salt-affected areas began with the systematic mapping of salt-affected areas. There are a series of ten maps describing different aspects (salt-affected soil types, vegetation types, salt-efflorescences) of the salinity-status nation-wide from 1897 onward, with the latest survey finished last year. Besides the national scale of 1:500,000, soil salinity is also mapped at the scale of 1:100,000 on the “AGROTOPO” map sheets and 1:25,000 in the “Kreybig”-practical soil information (spatial vector data for maps and database for profiles and borings) systems. In spite of the two systems being digitally available, the most detail information collected at the scale of 1:10,000 is available only for 2/3 of the country and is not digitised. Very early maps at field scale, later at regional scale showed numerical salinity/sodicity values. At present field scale numerical maps are analysed in order to optimise salinity mapping in space and time. Parallel to soil studies, the assessment of the vegetation of saline and sodic lands is a traditional topic of Hungarian botanists. The vegetation of these areas is used for millennia by grazing and provides medicine and raw material for several purposes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In this report the term “Meadow Solonetz Turning into Stepp Formation” of Szabolcs, 1966 and Szabolcs, 1989 p 245 has been replaced by the term “Deep Mollic Solonetz” for reasons of clarity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (RISSAC), Budapest, Hungary

    Tibor Tóth

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  1. Tibor Tóth
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Correspondence to Tibor Tóth .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Environmental Studies, Ege University, Bornova, Izmir, 35100, Turkey

    Münir Öztürk

  2. UNESCO Doha, Lusail Street - West Bay 66, Doha, Qatar

    Benno Böer

  3. Physische Geographie, Universität Regensburg, Universitätsstr. 31, Regensburg, 93040, Germany

    Hans-Jörg Barth

  4. , Division of Ecological and Earth Science, UNESCO Headquarters, Natural Sciences Se, Rue Miollis 1, Paris Cedex 15, 75732, France

    Miguel Clüsener-Godt

  5. Inst. Sustainable Halophyte Utilization, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan

    M. Ajmal Khan

  6. Fakultät für Biologie, Abteilung 3 - Ökologie, Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

    Siegmar-W. Breckle

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Tóth, T. (2010). Salt-Affected Soils and Their Native Vegetation in Hungary. In: Öztürk, M., Böer, B., Barth, HJ., Clüsener-Godt, M., Khan, M., Breckle, SW. (eds) Sabkha Ecosystems. Tasks for Vegetation Science, vol 46. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9673-9_13

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