Table 1.
Sample locations and soil characteristics of bare soils, biocrusts and mats from the Sultanate of Oman.
| Sampling sites | Type/ | Latitude | Longitude | Elevation (m) | Disturbance | pH | Conductivity | N content | C content | Soil texture | FAO* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Replicate | (°) | (°) | (µS/m) | (%) | (%) | Major class | |||||
| Muscat | Bare1 | 23.580318 | 58.201758 | 38 | + | 8.8 | 114 | 0.00 | 9.73 | Sand | S (sand) |
| Bare2 | 23.580318 | 58.201758 | 38 | + | 8.6 | 210 | 0.01 | 10.00 | Sand | S (sand) | |
| Bare3 | 23.580318 | 58.201758 | 38 | + | 8.7 | 189 | 0.01 | 8.49 | Sand | S (sand) | |
| Bare4 | 23.580318 | 58.201758 | 38 | + | 8.8 | 120 | 0.01 | 7.20 | Sand | S (sand) | |
| Cyano1 | 23.580318 | 58.201758 | 38 | + | 7.8 | 1930 | 0.08 | 6.01 | Clay | SiC (silt clay) | |
| Cyano2 | 23.580318 | 58.201758 | 38 | + | 7.9 | 301 | 0.16 | 6.03 | Loam | SCL (sandy clay loam) | |
| Cyano3 | 23.580318 | 58.201758 | 38 | + | 8.1 | 175 | 0.11 | 6.16 | Loam | CL (clay loam) | |
| Sur | Bare1 | 22.714222 | 59.353199 | 20 | + | 8.5 | 128 | 0.04 | 7.51 | Sand | LS (loamy sand) |
| Bare2 | 22.714222 | 59.353199 | 20 | + | 8.6 | 256 | 0.03 | 9.14 | Sand | LS (loamy sand) | |
| Bare3 | 22.714222 | 59.353199 | 20 | + | 8.7 | 148 | 0.02 | 6.95 | Sand | LS (loamy sand) | |
| Bare4 | 22.714222 | 59.353199 | 20 | + | 8.5 | 130 | 0.03 | 7.93 | Sand | LS (loamy sand) | |
| Cyano1 | 22.714222 | 59.353199 | 20 | + | 8.6 | 148 | 0.04 | 6.37 | Clay | SC (sandy clay) | |
| Cyano2 | 22.714222 | 59.353199 | 20 | + | 8.4 | 245 | 0.03 | 6.47 | Clay | SiC (silt clay) | |
| Cyano3 | 22.714222 | 59.353199 | 20 | + | 8.7 | 107 | 0.03 | 6.41 | Clay | SiC (silt clay) | |
| Mahoot | Bare1 | 20.829529 | 58.266045 | 37 | + | 8.6 | 166 | 0.01 | 3.18 | Loam | SL (sandy loam) |
| Bare2 | 20.829529 | 58.266045 | 37 | + | 8.7 | 370 | 0.01 | 4.00 | Loam | SL (sandy loam) | |
| Bare3 | 20.829529 | 58.266045 | 37 | + | 8.7 | 1228 | 0.02 | 3.41 | Loam | SL (sandy loam) | |
| Bare4 | 20.829529 | 58.266045 | 37 | + | 8.6 | 1134 | 0.01 | 2.42 | Loam | SL (sandy loam) | |
| Cyano1 | 20.829529 | 58.266045 | 37 | + | 8.3 | 228 | 0.03 | 3.65 | Loam | SiL (silt loam) | |
| Cyano2 | 20.829529 | 58.266045 | 37 | + | 8.5 | 232 | 0.01 | 3.88 | Loam | SCL (sandy clay loam) | |
| Cyano3 | 20.829529 | 58.266045 | 37 | + | 8.2 | 584 | 0.01 | 3.49 | Loam | SCL (sandy clay loam) | |
| Haat | Bare1 | 23.193069 | 57.396991 | 989 | − | 8.3 | 97 | 0.15 | 5.19 | Sand | LS (loamy sand) |
| Bare2 | 23.193069 | 57.396991 | 989 | − | 8.4 | 160 | 0.15 | 5.03 | Sand | LS (loamy sand) | |
| Bare3 | 23.193069 | 57.396991 | 989 | − | 8.3 | 121 | 0.16 | 4.16 | Sand | LS (loamy sand) | |
| Bare4 | 23.193069 | 57.396991 | 989 | − | 8.3 | 110 | 0.22 | 5.28 | Sand | LS (loamy sand) | |
| Cyano1 | 23.193069 | 57.396991 | 989 | − | 8.2 | 160 | 0.14 | 6.25 | Loam | SL (sandy loam) | |
| Cyano2 | 23.193069 | 57.396991 | 989 | − | 8.3 | 115 | 0.16 | 5.14 | Loam | SL (sandy loam) | |
| Cyano3 | 23.193069 | 57.396991 | 989 | − | 8.4 | 91 | 0.18 | 4.56 | Clay | SiC (silt clay) | |
| Lichen1 | 23.193069 | 57.396991 | 989 | − | 8.5 | 95 | 0.21 | 4.41 | Sand | LS (loamy sand) | |
| Lichen2 | 23.193069 | 57.396991 | 989 | − | 8.1 | 171.2 | 0.14 | 7.33 | Clay | SiC (silt clay) | |
| Lichen3 | 23.193069 | 57.396991 | 989 | − | 8.5 | 103 | 0.17 | 5.40 | Clay | SiC (silt clay) | |
| Jabal Al-Akhdar | Cyano1 | 23.091781 | 57.680719 | 2022 | − | 8.3 | 341 | 0.17 | 7.88 | Loam | CL (clay loam) |
| Cyano2 | 23.091781 | 57.680719 | 2022 | − | 8.4 | 111 | 0.08 | 4.91 | Clay | SC (sandy clay) | |
| Cyano3 | 23.091781 | 57.680719 | 2022 | − | 8.3 | 122 | 0.12 | 5.27 | Loam | SCL (sandy clay loam) | |
| Lichen1A | 23.091781 | 57.680719 | 2022 | − | 8.2 | 184.3 | 0.13 | 5.91 | Loam | SiL (silt loam) | |
| Lichen2A | 23.091781 | 57.680719 | 2022 | − | 8.0 | 255 | 0.22 | 6.24 | Loam | CL (clay loam) | |
| Lichen3A | 23.091781 | 57.680719 | 2022 | − | 8.3 | 133 | 0.12 | 4.43 | Clay | SiC (silt clay) | |
| lichen1B | 23.091781 | 57.680719 | 2022 | − | 8.4 | 133 | 0.13 | 5.14 | Clay | SiC (silt clay) | |
| Lichen2B | 23.091781 | 57.680719 | 2022 | − | 8.3 | 100 | 0.12 | 5.39 | Clay | SiC (silt clay) | |
| Lichen3B | 23.091781 | 57.680719 | 2022 | − | 8.2 | 140 | 0.18 | 4.58 | Loam | CL (clay loam) | |
| Shana1 | Cyano1 | 20.743597 | 58.603713 | 7 | − | 8.3 | 65800 | 0.01 | 2.30 | Sand | S (sand) |
| Cyano2 | 20.743597 | 58.603713 | 7 | − | 8.3 | 45900 | 0.00 | 2.40 | Sand | S (sand) | |
| Cyano3 | 20.743597 | 58.603713 | 7 | − | 8.3 | 108800 | 0.01 | 1.93 | Sand | S (sand) | |
| Shana3 | Mat1 | 20.769648 | 58.639686 | 12 | − | 8.9 | 34700 | 0.06 | 0.67 | Sand | S (sand) |
| Mat2 | 20.769648 | 58.639686 | 12 | − | 9.1 | 34800 | 0.05 | 0.60 | Sand | S (sand) | |
| Mat3 | 20.769648 | 58.639686 | 12 | − | 9.5 | 35400 | 0.04 | 0.54 | Sand | S (sand) |
*According to FAO (2006): Guidelines for soil description http://www.fao.org/3/a-a0542e.pdf.