AUTHOR=Tierra M. , Castañeda C. , Gracia F. J. , Medina E. T. 
  
TITLE=Soil Salinity, Agriculture, and Nature Conservation in Monegros, NE Spain
  
JOURNAL=Spanish Journal of Soil Science
  
VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2025
  
YEAR=2026
  
URL=https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/journals/spanish-journal-of-soil-science/articles/10.3389/sjss.2025.15359
  
DOI=10.3389/sjss.2025.15359
  
ISSN=2253-6574
  
ABSTRACT=Salinity is a determining factor for agriculture due to its effects on crops. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of European Union does not take this concept into account when distributing monetary aid to farmers. The Central Ebro Basin (CEB) presents this problem due to the semiarid climate conditions and the composition of the soils, generating an economic suffocation in the rural areas of the region. The present work aims to evaluate salinity in a dry-farmed landscape surrounding the “Saladas of Sástago-Bujaraloz,” a protected area under agricultural intensification with extreme saline conditions. We analyzed the saline composition of the soil of three saladas along transects and we surveyed the soil salinity with electromagnetic sensor (EMS) to facilitate the inspection of salinity in the field. The electrical conductivity (EC) ranged from slightly saline to very strongly saline. A 73% of the 319 soil samples analysed were very strongly saline (ECe >16 dS m−1) and half of the very strongly saline soil samples were taken in crop areas. The mean EC1:5 varied from 15 dS m−1 in the saladas to a range of 3–4.6 dS m−1 in the crops. There was a noticeable variability of the vertical distribution of soil salinity and a high salinity range in the upper soil horizons of natural areas. In general, the salinity of the integrated 100 cm of soil depth (ECe100) was higher than that of 50 cm (ECe50). The correlation between the EMS readings and EC varied between saladas, between horizontal and vertical readings, and between integrated soil depths. The best relationship was found with a soil depth of 0–100 cm and with horizontal EMS readings. The identified salinity patterns are consistent and applicable in the whole area of about 150 saladas. The purpose is to suggest salinity as an agronomic criterion within the CAP regulations. A proposed new agri-environment-climate measure could include classifying plots with ECe >10 dS m-1 in more than 50% of the area as unsuitable for cultivation.