Mediterranean agricultural soils
Résumé
In the Mediterranean region, sensu stricto, the agricultural soils are located in a remarkable physical and human geographical context. Mediterranean agricultural soils were used in rural landscapes that often had a shared heritage, characterized by old land use patterns, family-run sites, shared culinary traditions, and the long-standing practice of silvopasture, agroforesty and irrigated horticulture. Soil sequences are successions of soils with different morphologies, depending on the duration of the pedogenesis, their position on a slope or a change in the parent material. Soils with limestone accumulations, limestone slabs or limestone crusts are defined by the predominant concentrations of secondary carbonates. Certain soils with carapace accumulations may prove to come under both Calcisols and Fersialsols. These therefore benefit from characteristics that promote the fertility of the fersiallitic horizons. The chapter describes the characteristics of Salisols and Sodisols, which are of interest in the Mediterranean regions.