Tree nutritional status in relation to soil pedogenetic description: A case study

A pedological survey carried out in a small area of ca. 7,200 ha in Abruzzo region (Central Italy), according to the U.S. Dept. Agric. Soil Taxonomy, generated a soil map at a scale of 1:25,000 composed by 25 soil map units organised in six landscape units. A nutritional survey based on leaf analysis was conducted in a large number of the vineyards and peach orchards in the soil survey area to correlate plant nutritional status to soil type classification. By uni- and multivariate data processing, it was possible to show differences in plant nutritional profiles according the different soil and land units. The results support the use of leaf analysis in the definition of suitability maps for fertilisation purposes.