Journal of Global Resources
doi.org/10.46587/JGR.2020.v06i02.006

Volume 6 (02)

July 2020
Page 37-42
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

06
VARIABILITY PATTERNS IN SOIL MOISTURE AND SOIL PH VALUES UNDER SANDYCANOPIES OF BLEPHARIS SINDICA T. ANDERS IN CHURU REGION – A PART OF
INDIAN THAR DESERTPurushottam Lal1 and Sher Mohammed2Assistant Professor Department of Botany, Govt. College, Dholpur (Rajasthan), India
2
Associate Professor Department of Botany, Govt. Lohia PG College, Churu (Rajasthan), India
Corresponding author Email: bansiwal.purush@gmail.com
1Abstract: Soil parameters constitutively frame the edaphic environment for the naturally
growing plants. Proper response to these dynamic parameters enables the plants to survive andreproduce. Blepharis sindica T. Anders (Acanthaceae) is a threatened medicinal plant of Indianarid zone and reported to grow with progressively declining patchy populations at sandy
habitats in Churu region. Micro-environment especially edaphic characteristics, under the
canopies of plants impact largely on plant development. In the present study an attempt has
been made to evaluate yearlong variations in soil moisture contents (as percentage value) andsoil pH at natural sandy sites of this threatened species. Values were estimated for both surface
soil (0-5 cm) and depth soil (20-25 cm) layers under plant canopies. Data revealed that moisture
percentage values remain higher only in rainy months that support seed germination andsubsequent vegetative growth of plants. Progressive decline in soil moisture contents as well as
increase in soil pH during late growing season seems to exert their effect as culmination ofgrowth in this species.
Key words: Soil Moisture, pH, Arid Zone, Rain Fall, Sandy Areas, Medicinal, Threatened
Introduction
Soils form the heart of the Earth’s “critical zone”, on which living beings mostly rely for theirvarious resource requirements. Physically, it is an extra-ordinary complex that controls carbon,nutrients and water cycling (Brantley, 2010). The sustainable productivity of a soil mainly
depends upon its ability to supply essential nutrients to the growing plants (Chaudhari andAhire, 2013). Organisms in the soil food web decompose soil nutrients and make them available
to plants (Brussaard et al., 2007). The rate of soil nutrient decomposition and turnover mainly
depends upon the interplay between soil biota, temperature, moisture and soil chemical andphysical composition (Taylor et al., 2009). Optimum plant growth and crop yield depend not only
on total amount of nutrients present in the soil at a particular time but also on their availability,
which in turn, is controlled by physico-chemical properties such as soil texture, organic carbon,
cation exchange capacity, pH, etc.
The suitability of soil as a medium of plant growth depends on both its chemical andphysical properties. The adverse physical soil environment conditions limit root growth and root
activity that manifest reduced nutrient absorption and plant growth (Chaudhary and Sandhu,
1983; Peterson et al., 1984). As per Rodriguez-Iturbe and Porporato (2004), soil is the primarystore and regulator in the water flow of ecosystems, by intercepting precipitation input andcontrolling its use by organisms, especially by plants. Soil moisture is a comprehensive indicatorin hydrological processes and ecosystems functioning (Chang and Wetzel, 1991). Soil moistureavailability primarily influences plants by two routes, either by being directly limiting as aresource, or indirectly by filling pore spaces in soil and thereby excluding air, causing oxygen
availability to become limiting for the activity of plant roots (Golhar and Chaudhari, 2013).
Increased soil water concentrations positively affect nutrient input, decomposition,37

mineralization and physical transport of nutrients in soil, all of which should increase plantavailable nutrients (Schimel et al., 1997).
Soil pH depends upon a variety of factors including all soil-forming factors plus theseason of the year, cropping practices, the soil horizon sampled, the water content at samplingtime and the way pH is determined (Tisdale et al., 1995). The soil pH influences the rate ofweathering processes, which in turn affect the solubility of many of the nutrients in the soil
needed for proper plant growth and development (Evrendilek et al., 2004). The most universal
effect of pH on plant growth is nutritional, as it determines the nutrient availability to plants(Hoffmann, 2010). Soil pH ranges facilitate a respective vegetation to grow, and in turn thegrowing vegetation influences the soil pH by organic matter production and leaching actions(Rowell, 1994).
Indian arid zone is a home of unique phyto-diversity including an array of medicinal plant
species. Desertic conditions are life limiting for these plants and also determine their future.
Blepharis sindica T. Anders is an IUCN declared threatened medicinal plant species ofAcanthaceae family (UNDP, 2010) being locally known as Billi-khojio/Unt-kantalo/Bhangaro.
The plants are medicinally important for aphrodisiac and invigorating benefits (Singh et al.,
1996; Khare, 2007). During vegetative growth, B. sindica plants attain 10-55 cm above groundheight with a characteristic dichotomously branching habit and seed loaded spikes at theirnodes. The plants thrive well at sand dunes and undisturbed margins of field fencings (Lal et al.,2014). The growing season of the species starts with the seed germination in June last of earlyJuly as the first monsoon showers precipitate in the area. The plants culminate their life in formof dried lignified plants standing rooted in their natural sandy habitat in months of DecemberJanuary each year. The present study was aimed to investigate the yearlong variability in thelevels of soil moisture (percent) and pH values underneath/nearby canopies of Blepharis sindica
plants at two different selected sites in Churu region – a part of Indian Thar desert.
Materials and Methods
In the present study, two different study sites of B. sindica populations were selected in Churu
region, viz. Shyampura village (Site-A; 28.2647533 N, 74.8945098 E) and Buntia village (Site-B;
28.3528630 N, 75.0090939 E). Climatic data from meteorological Centre, Jaipur revealed thatvarious factors, viz. rainfall, temperature and humidity, showed great monthly variation and also
influenced each other. Rainy months (July-August) were reported with highest amount ofprecipitation (up to 345mm in August). In summer months (April-June), the area experiences
high temperature peaks (up to 500C in May) with frequent dust storms while in winter months(November-February) the temperature deeps as low as -20C (in January month). Besides rainyspells, the area faces low amount of relative humidity and high rates of evopo-transpirational
loses.
Soil samples were collected from these sites beneath B. sindica plants (green plants ingrowing season, while dried plants in rest of the year) during July 2017 to June 2019. The soil
samples were collected (in glass bottles fitted with air tight rubber caps) monthly from surface(0-5 cm) and 20-25 cm depth levels from above-mentioned sites and analyzed for moisture
percent and pH parameters. The mean values of these parameters for two consecutive years
are presented graphically and also in tabular forms. The soil moisture was estimatedimmediately after sampling was done, while pH was analyzed from air-dried samples sieved
through 2 mm sieve. The percentage of soil moisture was measured on oven dry weight basis
as described by Pandeya et al. (1968) and calculated as follows:
Fresh weight – Oven dry weight
Soil moisture (%) = ----------------------------------------------- x 100
Oven dry weight38

Soil pH was measured from water suspension of soil (1:5 ratio; 5g soil: 25 ml distilledwater) using digital pH meter (Systronics) at room temperature. Results were subjected toanalysis of variance as per Gomez and Gomez (1984) considering months as treatments andsampling position as replicates and affirmed significant or non-significant at P<0.05.
Results and Discussion
Table 1 revealed that soil moisture (percent) values were observed highest during rainy months,
i.e. July to September. Amongst both sites, the maximum values of soil moisture percentage (forsurface and depth layers) were recorded for site-B. Maximum values for soil moisture
percentage at surface layer was recorded in July (3.80 percent) while at depth soil layers, it washighest in August (6.39 percent).
Table 01: Mean Monthly Variations in Moisture Percentage at Surface (0-5 Cm) and Depth(20-25 Cm) Soil Layers Collected Underneath of B. Sindica Plants from Sites – A & B
Site- AMonth
Jul.
Aug.
Sep.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
Jun.

Surface soil
3.65
1.68
2.21
0.49
1.03
0.55
3.00
1.93
0.64
0.07
0.12
2.89Site- B
Depth soil
2.15
4.94
5.23
3.10
3.47
3.26
3.52
3.79
2.28
2.51
1.43
4.88

Surface soil
3.80
2.22
1.23
0.39
0.72
0.51
1.44
1.84
0.62
0.13
0.12
2.01

Depth soil
2.64
6.39
6.11
2.10
2.68
2.28
4.99
4.06
3.42
1.65
1.07
5.16

At surface, the minimum values were observed in April for site-A (0.07 percent). In themonth of May, the values (at both layers) were reported lowest (except site-A for surface layer;
where it was reported lowest in April). Data were significant at p<0.05 from site-B for surface
and from site-A for depth layers, while others were non-significant. In the present investigations,soil moisture values were highest during rainy months (July-September) followed by winter(November-February) and lowest during summer months (March-June) from both sites. The
above results are in agreement with the studies of Sen (1982), Singh et al. (2005) and Gao-Lin
et al. (2013), who observed soil moisture contents as a direct function of rainfall in the area. In
the present studies, higher moisture amounts were recorded at depth (20-25 cm) levels
suggesting the downward movement of water through capillary system and intensive water loss
from surface soils by means of sun and wind being confirmative with the pattern recorded by Lal(2013) from Commiphora wightii habitats in western Thar desert.
Figure 01: Mean Monthly Rainfall (mm) in Churu Region during July 2017-June 2019

Source: Meteorological Centre, Jaipur39

The soil pH values at surface and depth layers varied slightly at both sites. Invariably thevalues were recorded highest during July and lowest in June for both layers (Table 2). Maximum
values for surface (9.70) and depth (9.59) layer were observed during July from site-B, while
minimum for surface (7.23) and depth (7.26) layers during June from site-A. Data weresignificant at p<0.05 for both layers at both sites.
Table 02: Mean Monthly Variations in Ph at Surface (0-5 cm) and Depth (20-25 cm) Soil
Layers Collected Underneath of B. Sindica Plants from Sites – A & B
MonthJul.
Aug.
Sep.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
Jun.

Site-A
Surface soil
9.39
7.75
7.79
7.54
7.55
9.15
9.13
8.11
8.19
7.54
7.25
7.23

Site-B
Depth soil
9.36
7.77
7.81
7.55
7.54
9.24
9.21
8.14
8.16
7.61
7.28
7.26

Surface soil
9.70
8.03
8.06
7.87
7.73
9.38
9.38
8.37
8.41
7.60
7.52
7.49

Depth soil
9.59
8.14
7.93
7.90
7.73
9.43
9.35
8.41
8.45
7.64
7.57
7.53

Soil pH is an important measure because it functions as a useful predictor of various
physio-chemical and biological activities within the soil. In its synergistic effect, it determines
availability of soil nutrients for plants as well as microbial activities and physical conditions of thesoil (Foth and Ellis, 1997). In Indian arid zone, majority of the soils are basic or slightly basic
due to the presence of carbonate and bicarbonates. Abnormally high, more than 9, and low orless than 4, are toxic to plants (Chundawat, 1990). Mehta (1992), Prakash (2001), Verma(2008) and Lal (2013) reported higher pH values during rainy periods underneath Acacia tortilis,
Salvadora persica, Asparagus racemosus and Commiphora wightii, respectively. Fagbote andOlanipekun (2011) also observed maximum values of pH in rainy season in top soil of Ondo
state (Nigeria). The present study also supports all the above mentioned researchers thathighest pH values were during July for both surface and depth layers at both sites.
In the present studies, pH values were recorded higher at depth in comparison tosurface layer, except during July, where they were higher at surface. These findings weresupported by Ventura and Westanabe (1984) and Sharma et al. (2009), who had reported
higher values with increasing soil depth. Increased pH values during July may be associatedwith possible hydrolysis of salts as a result of higher moisture content during this period. Thus, it
is concluded from the present findings that values of soil moisture contents were higher at 20-25
cm depth layer as compared to surface from all sites. The pH values were greater at both layers
during rainy months.
Conclusion
The present study reveals that soil moisture and pH values for both soil layers (surface anddepth) varied significantly at both sites. The pattern of soil moisture percentage variability forsurface soil was found in high correlation with rain fall trend in the area while moisture
percentage values reported for depth layers of soil indicates its adjustment with that of evopotranspirational losses in the area. Soil pH values were found invariably higher in December –January months being lower in rainy season only. The findings indicate that the soil pH values
remain basic throughout the year. At the time of seed germination in the species, the adequate
amount of soil moisture in both soil layers (surface and depth) as well as rainfall induced
decrease in basic nature of soil seems to support seedling establishment at sandy sites of thearea. The plants finish their life cycle as the pH values reaches to peak in December. As an40

essence, this threatened species of medicinal herb grows at its natural sites within a range ofprogressively decreasing trend of soil moisture contents and pH values standing around ofvalue 8 (slightly basic).
Figure 02: Graphical presentation of mean monthly variations in soil moisture (Solid lines) and pH(bars) at surface (0-5 cm) and depth (20-25cm) soil layers collected underneath of B. sindica
plants from both sites (I and II for site-A; III and IV for site-B)

IIIIII

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