Influence of agricultural activity on soil morphological and physicochemical properties on sandy beach ridges along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia

ABSTRACTAlong the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, beach ridges are formed with interspersed swales, which are referred to locally as beach ridges interspersed with swales (BRIS). Although BRIS soils are regarded as problematic lowland soils for agriculture because of their very sandy texture and concomitant infertility, agricultural activities in such soils have been recently increasing. This study was conducted to characterize the BRIS soils and to evaluate the influence of agricultural activities on soil characteristics and fertility. Three 1-km transects from the shoreline running inland were established; two transects passed through the experimental farm of Cherating Station of the Malaysian Agriculture Research Development Institute while the other transect passed through an adjacent remnant forest. The soils located close to the shoreline and that further inland were classified as Typic Quartzipsamments and Typic Haplohumods, respectively. The soils had a very high sand content, occasionally exce...