Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
Hamdi A. Zurqani
2 The History of Soil Mapping and Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Mukhtar M. Elaalem, Hamdi A. Zurqani, and Khaled R. Ben Mahmoud
3 Soil Forming Factors and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Khaled R. Ben Mahmoud and Hamdi A. Zurqani
4 Soil Classification and Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Mukhtar M. Elaalem, Hamdi A. Zurqani, Khaled R. Ben Mahmoud,
and Azzeddin R. Elhawej
5 Major Limiting Factors Affecting Agricultural Use and Production . . . . . . . . 65
Basher A. Nwer, Khaled R. Ben Mahmoud, Hamdi A. Zurqani,
and Mukhtar M. Elaalem
6 Land Cover, Land Use, and Vegetation Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Hamdi A. Zurqani and Khaled R. Ben Mahmoud
7 Soil Microbiology and Biotechnology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Eman Ali Ferjani, Merfat Taher Ben Mahmoud,
and Asma Yousef Alnajjar
8 Land Degradation and Desertification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Basher A. Nwer, Hamdi A. Zurqani, and Azalarib S. Ali
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
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