Effect of Some Common Anthropogenic Activities on the Urban Soils of a'seeb Oman.

The accelerated rate of urbanization is affecting the soils that are fundamental ecological assets for cities and land-use planning. The use of urban soils for gardening and landscaping is very famous all over the world owing to its numerous benefits. This study was planned to investigate the impacts of different human activities on the characteristics of urban soils of a densely populated area of Oman. A’Seeb is the biggest city of Oman on the basis of population. The study area was surveyed extensively to find out common and more likely soil manipulating anthropogenic activities. A questionnaire was used to know the consciousness of people about the possible impacts of their activities on the surrounding soils. Throwing garbage outside of their containers and home gardening with untreated grey and sewage waters were found the most common practices in the study area. The information obtained from the residents of A'seeb revealed their little concerns about the contamination of soil due to the above mentioned practices. Pedological studies on excavated pedons revealed that throwing garbage on soil contributed to distinctive changes in the characteristics of the soil horizons near garbage container. The upper soil horizons in the garbage dumping sites were showing visible deterioration. It is highly likely that the garbage dumping sites are becoming unsuitable for any kind of urban soil use for example landscaping by ornamental plants or gardening. The analyses of physical, chemical and biological properties of soils revealed that many of these properties were affected by the human activities. Soil pH, electrical conductivity, heavy metals and soil texture were found to be affected by different anthropogenic activities. More than 90% of the microbes isolated from these soils includes highly pathogenic strains of Klebsiella, Enterobactria, Shigella, Cronobacter,Aeromonas and Acinetobacter etc. The direct contact or ingestion of these soils and inhalation of dust by human beings, particularly, children, may contribute to diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain.