Multivariate statistical analysis for spatial evaluation of physicochemical properties of agricultural soils from Beni-Amir irrigated perimeter, Tadla plain, Morocco

Soil surveying and mapping is an important operation in soil science, and characterization of their properties is a key step in understanding soil quality . This study was undertaken to investigate the spatial variability of selected soil properties, such as soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC1:5), carbonate content (CaCO3) and total organic matter (TOM) and soil texture using different conventional analytical methods. Spatial distribution of these soil properties was elaborated by using the kriging method. The obtained results showed that the soil is alkaline, soil pH ranges from 7.20 to 8.78. TOM varies from 0.11 to 1.05 dS/m, and its texture varied from sand to loam content. Nonetheless, EC values fall within the slight, moderate and strong degrees of salinity. According to these results, it can be concluded that the soil is saline. Interrelationships between the parameters analyzed and the different samples were investigated by multivariate analyses, principal component analysis (PCA), and hierarchical cluster analyses (HCA). HCA classified the five groups, which were compared to PCA visualizations. The Box-plots show that the values fractions (sand, silt, clay) were very variable. Pearson correlation coefficient indicates a high correlation between carbonate content and pH, organic matter and silt fractio