Two populations of Cressa cretica L. in waterlogged highly saline alluvial plains of Shah Farid and Buleri Shah Karim localities in Tando Muhammad Khan area, district Hyderabad, Sindh were studied for their edaphic characteristics and aboveground standing biomass after around three months of summer rains. The plant growth at Buleri Shah Karim was monospecific. At Shah Farid, C. cretica was subordinated by Aeluropus lagopoides (L.) Trin. (% IVI: 16.93). The mean height of Cressa was recorded as 0.11± 0.08m - reaching up to c 0.20 m in height. The density of C. cretica in these sites varied from 20 to 504 shoots.m-2 - averaging to around 175 shoots.m-2 . The soil associated with these populations was fine-textured alluvium and basic in reaction. The finer fraction was probably the montmorillonite type of clay that exhibited cracks on drying due to shrinkage. The soil of Buleri Shah Karim locality was comparatively more saline in surface and subsurface samples (mean EC: 25.88 ± 7.32 dS.m-1 ) than those of Shah Farid soil (mean EC: 10.93 ± 0.92 dS.m-1 and had higher amounts of Na, and Cl and SO4 and other ions and SAR values. These soils had low amounts of K and P. The aboveground dry phytomass (AGDP) of the sites under study amounted to 84.48 ± 11.82 g.m-2 in Buleri Shah Karim locality and 113.6 ± 13.32 g.m-2 at Shah Farid locality with an overall mean: 99.04 g.m-2 . It extrap
D. Khan, M.Q. Channa. (2010) EDAPHIC PROPERTIES AND ABOVEGROUND STANDING PHYTOMASS OF CRESSA CRETICA L. POPULATIONS IN WATERLOGGED INLAND HALOCATENA OF TANDO MUHAMMAD KHAN, DISTRICT HYDERABAD (SINDH), PAKISTAN, , Volume 7, Issue 4.
