SOIL AND PLANT CORRELATIONS IN A SOLONETZIC GRASSLAND

On the Great Hungarian Plain, the correlation between soil variables a nd plant data was studied in a heterogeneous solonetzic grassland. A 2 1-m transect was sampled to identify the basic features of the soil-pl ant correlations. The abrupt change from nonsaline meadow to salt-affe cted grassland vegetation was explained by the sharp increase in the s odium concentration of the groundwater. Two 50-m transects were sample d, and the relationship between soil variables and plant data was used to predict soil variables. The observed data of the 50-m long transec ts were divided into two groups of plants, one used for the multiple r egression equations and the other used as a check. When comparing the efficiency of various groups of variables for estimation, plant cover data was only half as precise as the soil data.