SOIL PHYSICOCHEMICAL CONDITIONS IN GARDENS OF THE NEW WATERFRONT OF THESSALONIKI, GREECE

摘要

Thessaloniki city new waterfront thematic gardens is a recently completed (2014) and of large scale public space redevelopment project. One of the concerns of city authorities should be the conservation and the continuous aesthetic upgrading of this already impressive urban landscape. Soils constitute a significant part of this environment and the frequent monitoring of their properties is of crucial importance for the application of any successful management practice. The study of main soil physicochemical properties in representative thematic gardens and parts of the coastal pine trees alley showed that soils have loamy texture, they are alkaline, have low organic matter and satisfactory CaCO3 content as well as medium levels of cation exchange capacity. Due to sea proximity and/or increased underground seawater level, soil salinity and high sodium content mainly in parts of the pine trees alley should be taken seriously into consideration for possible future problems in plants growth. Concerning soil macronutrients, nitrate nitrogen, calcium and magnesium levels are high enough in all soil samples, while very low phosphorus and potassium content was measured in several gardens. Finally, practical measures are proposed for achieving an integrated management plan of city new waterfront green spaces.