CLASSIFICATION AND MAPPING OF LAND USE AND SOME SOIL PROPERTIES IN KIRŞEHIR PROVINCE, TURKEY

In this study, land use capabilities, land types and other soil properties of Kırşehir province were classified and analyzed. In the study, 1/25.000 scale digital soil maps obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Turkey) were used. Numerical data were classified using Arc GIS 10.3.1 software, which is one of the GIS software. As a result of the research; In general, It was observed that IV. class lands were formed in the Kirsehir province IV.class lands were found to be 1658.3 km2 and it was determined that they cover 25% of the total area. It is seen that soil insufficiency is high in Kırşehir province due to slope and erosion damage. Soil insufficiency due to slope and erosion damage was found to be 3520.7 km2 and it was determined that 54% of the total area was exposed to this effect. It has been observed that the land type is generally composed of steppe, bare rocks and rubble. It was determined that the area formed by bare, rocks and debris is 1128.5 km2. It has been determined that the stony soil areas are 1094.2 km2. As a result of the study, classified map outputs related to land uses and some soil properties were obtained. It will be inevitable that this research will provide important database bases for other studies to be carried out in this region in the future.

Nomenclatural notes on Iris haussknechtii (Iridaceae)

The nomenclatural notes, discussed in the present communication, are based on the revision of Iris Linnaeus (1753: 38) names described from Turkey, considering this genus in its wide sense (e.g., Dykes 1924, Mathew 1989, Güner 2012). Iris haussknechtii Bornm. ex Baker (1892: 4) is a species endemic to Turkey referred to I. ser. Spuriae (Diels 1930: 502) Lawrence (1953: 361) of I. sect. Limniris Tausch (1823: without pagination), treated at the generic level under the name Chamaeiris Medikus (1790: 417) (Crespo 2011, Crespo et al. 2015). It is a rhizomatous, perennial herbaceous, compact plant, with two terminal pale yellow or yellow and white flowers on single stem, the perianth segments with only yellow veins, and the narrow, rather tough leaves slightly shorter than flowers. According to some authors (Dykes 1912, 1924, Peckham 1939, Mathew 1984), it is a close relative to I. sintenisii Janka (1877: 244), except for the colour of the flowers, the shape of the outer perianth segments, the fact that the spathe valves are not sharply keeled (Dykes 1924), and the reported chromosome number: 2n = 18 in I. haussknechtii (Özkan et al. 2001, as “I. kerneriana”) vs 2n = 16 in I. sintenisii (Popova & Ceschmedjiev 1975). Based on herbarium specimens examination (deposited at E, K, and P; acronym according to Thiers 2019), we conclude that I. haussknechtii is distributed in the following northern Turkey provinces: Canakkale, Balikesir, Bolu, Kastamonu, Cankiri, Ankara, Corum, Sinop, Amasya, Tokat, Erzincan, as well as in Eskisehir, Afyonkarahisar, Kirikkale, Kirsehir, and Sivas (A. Güner, pers. comm.). This plant usually occurs in open sites, on stony soil amongst woodland, in dry meadows, scrubland, and on steep stony slopes at elevations ranging from 1150 to 2350 m (Mathew 1984). At the best of our knowledge, the name I. haussknechtii has not yet been typified. After the examination of all the original material and protologue, we designated the lectotype for this name.

Effect of Stoniness on the Hydraulic Properties of a Soil from an Evaporation Experiment Using the Wind and Inverse Estimation Methods

Stony soils are distributed all over the world. The study of their characteristics has gained importance lately due to their increasing use as agricultural soils. The effect that rock fragments exert on the soil hydraulic properties is difficult to measure in situ, and is usually derived from the fine earth properties. However, the corrections used so far do not seem accurate for all types of stony soils. Our objective was to assess the adequacy of estimating the hydraulic properties of a stony soil from the fine earth ones by correcting the latter by the volume occupied by rock fragments. To do that, we first assessed the validity of different approaches for estimating the hydraulic properties of a stone-free and a stony (40% rock fragments) cylinder prepared with samples from the same silt loam soil. The functions relating to the soil hydraulic properties (θ-h, K-h-θ) were estimated by the Wind method and by inverse estimation, using data from an evaporation experiment where the soil water content and pressure head were measured at different soil depths over time. Results from the evaporation experiment were compared to those obtained by applying the equation that corrects fine earth properties by the rock fragments volume. Wind and the Inverse Estimation methods were successfully applied to estimate soil water content and hydraulic conductivity from the stony soil experiment, except for some uncertainties caused by the limited range of suction in which the experiment was conducted. The application of an equation for adjusting the soil water content at different pressure heads (allowing for defining the soil water retention curve, SWRC), and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (K) directly from the stone content was not satisfactory. K values obtained from the measured data were higher than those inferred by the correcting equation in the wet range, but decreased much faster with a decreasing pressure head. The use of this equation did therefore not take into account the effect that the creation of lacunar pores by the presence of rock fragments likely exerts on water flow processes. The use of such correction needs therefore to be revised and new approaches are needed for estimating the hydraulic conductivity in stony soils. In relation to SWRC, a new equation to calculate the water content of a stony soil accounting for the influence of possible lacunar pores is proposed.