Sentence:  In arranging the data for analyses, all sites that exhibited the behavior of an alkali or saline-alkali soil were grouped together and the panspot designation was used only for the panspot <WSD>interareas</WSD>. This was done because the panspot <WSD>interareas</WSD> were so widely different in their intake characteristics  from the actual panspots themselves. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An area where the soil composition differs significantly from the surrounding region.