Creating and testing a geometric soil-landscape model in dry steeplands using a very low sampling density

Soil Research ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. D. McIntosh ◽  
I. H. Lynn ◽  
P. D. Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Slope Position ◽  
Landscape Model ◽  
Sampling System ◽  
Sampling Density ◽  
Seasonally Dry ◽  
Phosphate Retention ◽  
Soil Landscape ◽  
Nutrient Amounts

The aim of this study was to determine whether a predictive geometric soil-landscape model, potentially applicable to 400 000 ha of seasonally dry greywacke steeplands in New Zealand, could be created for 29 soil properties, using a very low soil sampling density. We postulated that in these deeply dissected steeplands which have relatively uniform geology and slope form, landscape geometry (through its effects on microclimate), rather than vegetation, geology, or slope form will control the soil pattern. To create and test the soil-landscape model we sampled the 26 000 ha Benmore Range, South Canterbury, New Zealand, in a formally stratified way so that trends of soil carbon, soil nutrients, and profile characteristics could be established for predominant slopes, at various altitudes and aspects. We used a factorial sampling system (3 land systems × 3 altitudes × 4 aspects × 2 slope positions), giving 72 sampling sites in total, and a sampling density of one site per 360 ha. Altitude and aspect had significant (P < 0.05) effects on many topsoil characteristics, particularly those likely to be related to soil moisture status, leaching, and weathering (e.g. topsoil pH, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphate retention). For most soil properties the effect of slope position was not significant (P > 0.05). The soil-landscape model was tested by comparing predicted and actual soil properties at a further 22 sites. Soil properties that were laboratory-determined were generally satisfactorily predicted by the model, but properties based on several measurements (e.g. nutrient amounts in units of kg/ha) were less satisfactorily predicted, presumably because they incorporate more measurement error. Trends of soil properties that showed strong altitude and aspect relationships were effectively illustrated using 360° ‘radar diagrams’. We conclude that for dry steeplands of uniform geology, with simple and repeated landforms at the output scale being used, a geometric soil-landscape model based on a very low sampling density successfully predicts soil properties on dominant landscape units. The methodology has application to national resource inventories.

Quantitative soil - landscape models for the Haldon and Hurunui soil sets, New Zealand

Soil Research ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen Schmidt ◽  
Phil Tonkin ◽  
Allan Hewitt
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Survey ◽  
Fuzzy Classification ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Land Resource ◽  
Landscape Models ◽  
Soil Landscape ◽  
Landscape Units

Limited resources and large areas of steeplands with limited field access forced soil and land resource surveyors in New Zealand often to develop generalised models of soil–landscape relationships and to use these to produce soil maps by manual interpretation of aerial photographs and field survey. This method is subjective and non-reproducible. Recent studies showed the utility of digital information and analysis to complement manual soil survey. The study presents quantitative soil–landscape models for the Hurunui and Haldon soil sets (New Zealand), developed from conceptual soil–landscape models. Spatial modelling techniques, including terrain analysis and fuzzy classification, are applied to compute membership maps of landform components for the study areas. The membership maps can be used to derive a ‘hard’ classification of land components and uncertainty maps. A soil taxonomic model is developed based on field data (soil profiles), which attaches dominant soil profiles and soil properties, including their uncertainties, to the defined land components. The method presented in this study is proposed as a potential technique for modelling land components of steepland areas in New Zealand, in which the spatial soil variation is dominantly controlled by landform properties. A soil map was developed that includes the uncertainty in the fundamental definitions of landscape units and the variability of soil properties within landscape units.

A soil-landscape model for close-jointed mudstone, Gisborne-East Cape, North-Island, New Zealand

Soil Research ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 381 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Mcleod ◽  
WC Rijkse ◽  
JR Dymond
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Digital Elevation Model ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Computer Algorithms ◽  
Landscape Model ◽  
Soil Class ◽  
Soil Group ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Soil Landscape ◽  
Elevation Model

A soil-landscape model, comprising 12 land components at a scale of 1 : 5000, has been developed in Neogene close-jointed mudstone in the Gisborne-East Cape region of the North Island, New Zealand. In a validation, soil order was predicted correctly in 81% of observations, soil group in 80%, soil subgroup in 63% and soilform in 60% of observations. A simplified model based on 11 land components for use at a scale of 1 : 50 000 has also been validated. Here soil order was predicted correctly in 71% of observations, soil group in 73% and soil subgroup in 49% of observations. For application with a digital elevation model (1 : 50 000), the number of land components was amalgamated to five. Here the soil order and soil group were predicted correctly in 63% of observations and soil subgroup in 40% of observations during validation. In all trials, the percentage of correct observations increased if a second choice or subdominant soil class was allowed. It took 2 person-weeks to produce a soil map from the 1 :50 000 form of the model over 400 km2 of steep and hilly country by photo interpretation of stereo aerial photographs, compared with 1 day of applying computer algorithms on the digital elevation model (DEM). The soil-landscape model succinctly relates soil class to land component and it enables improved targeting of farm and planning inputs by empowering existing research into soil fertilizer requirements and soil physical properties.

scholarly journals Effects of Landscape Positions and Landscape Types on Soil Properties and Chlorophyll Content of Citrus in a Sloping Orchard in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4288
Author(s):  
Siyue Sun ◽  
Guolin Zhang ◽  
Tieguang He ◽  
Shufang Song ◽  
Xingbiao Chu
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Chlorophyll Content ◽  
Three Gorges Reservoir ◽  
Slope Position ◽  
Three Gorges Reservoir Area ◽  
Three Gorges ◽  
Reservoir Area ◽  
The Three Gorges Reservoir ◽  
The Three Gorges ◽  
Landscape Types

In recent years, soil degradation and decreasing orchard productivity in the sloping orchards of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area of China have received considerable attention both inside and outside the country. More studies pay attention to the effects of topography on soil property changes, but less research is conducted from the landscape. Therefore, understanding the effects of landscape positions and landscape types on soil properties and chlorophyll content of citrus in a sloping orchard is of great significance in this area. Our results showed that landscape positions and types had a significant effect on the soil properties and chlorophyll content of citrus. The lowest soil nutrient content was detected in the upper slope position and sloping land, while the highest exists at the footslope and terraces. The chlorophyll content of citrus in the middle and upper landscape position was significantly higher than the footslope. The redundancy analysis showed that the first two ordination axes together accounted for 81.32% of the total variation, which could be explained by the changes of soil total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, available nitrogen, available potassium, organic matter, pH, and chlorophyll content of the citrus. Overall, this study indicates the significant influence of landscape positions and types on soil properties and chlorophyll content of citrus. Further, this study provides a reference for the determination of targeted land management measures and orchard landscape design so that the soil quality and orchard yield can be improved, and finally, the sustainable development of agriculture and ecology can be realized.

Surface erosion assessment in the South-Canterbury downlands, New Zealand using 137Cs distribution

Soil Research ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 787 ◽  
Author(s):  
LR Basher ◽  
KM Matthews ◽  
L Zhi
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Slope Position ◽  
Surface Erosion ◽  
The South ◽  
Erosion And Deposition ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
Land Use Types ◽  
Radionuclide Tracer

Redistribution of the radionuclide tracer 137Cs was used to examine the pattern of erosion and deposition at two sites with contrasting long-term land uses (pasture and cropping) in the South Canterbury downlands, New Zealand. There were clear differences between the two land use types in variation in 137Cs concentrations and areal activity, erosion rates and topsoil depth variability. Erosion and deposition have resulted in greater variability and lower mean levels of 137Cs areal activity under cropping (46.3 mBq cm-2) than pasture (55.0 mBq cm-2). At the cropping site, erosion and deposition roughly balanced with the mean value over all sampling sites, suggesting no net soil loss, but considerable redistribution of soil within paddocks. At the pasture site results suggested slight net deposition. There was evidence for both sheet/rill and wind erosion being important in soil redistribution. While there was no difference in mean topsoil depth between pasture and cropping, there were significant differences with slope position. At the pasture site, there was little variation of topsoil depth with slope position, except for swales which tended to be deeper, whereas at the cropping site there was considerable variation in topsoil depth with slope position. Topsoil depth was a poor indicator of erosion status.

scholarly journals Effects of Landscape Slope Position, Urban Refuse Compost and Sewage Sludge on Soil Properties and Cassava Yield in South Eastern Nigeria

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
R Ezema ◽  
M Obi ◽  
C Asadu ◽  
T Omeje ◽  
R Agu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Slope Position ◽  
South Eastern

Effects of irrigation, dairy effluent dispersal and stocking on soil properties of the Waimate District, New Zealand

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.O. Manono ◽  
H. Moller ◽  
R. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Dairy Effluent

Earthquake Microzoning from Soil Properties

1993 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. W. Hodder ◽  
M. Z. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Shear Strength ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Linear Regression ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Shear Wave Velocity ◽  
Soil Type ◽  
Soil Profile ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
Viscous Damping ◽  
Extent Of Damage

The extent of damage caused by an earthquake in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1968 to buildings erected on a variety of regoliths and foundation materials is correlated with the thickness of the regolith, the depth to the water table and semi-quantitative parameters derived from soil profile descriptions, particularly related to soil type and soil structure. From linear regression correlations, the expected damage for a comparable earthquake elsewhere can be determined. The model was tested for soil data for the Edgecumbe area, hit by a damaging earthquake in 1987. The predictions were sufficiently in accord with observations to suggest that soil properties that reflect the geotechnical properties of the upper parts of the regolith, particularly those that measure the shear strength, shear wave velocity and viscous damping of that material, may be useful for earthquake microzoning purposes in areas where there is a considerable thickness of unconsolidated materials above bedrock.

Soil classification in New Zealand - Legacy and lessons

Soil Research ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 843 ◽  
Author(s):  
AE Hewitt
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Soil Classification ◽  
Soil Taxonomy ◽  
Regional Correlation ◽  
Reconnaissance Survey ◽  
Soil Landscape ◽  
History Of ◽  
Intensive Land Use ◽  
Made In

A brief review of the history of soil classification in New Zealand is made in order to place the most recent work in its historical context. The first comprehensive system was inspired by the Russian concepts of zonality, and was published as the New Zealand Genetic Soil Classification by Taylor in 1948. It may be regarded as a grand soil-landscape model that related soil classes to environmental factors. Although successful in stimulating the reconnaissance survey of New Zealand soils, it failed to support the requirements of more intensive land use. Soil Taxonomy was tested as an alternative modem system for a period of 5 years but was found to make inadequate provision for important classes of New Zealand soils. The New Zealand Soil Classification was developed using many of the features of Soil Taxonomy while preserving successful parts of the New Zealand Genetic Soil Classification. Historical lessons include the increasing importance of electronic databases and regional correlation, the importance of nomenclature, the necessity of a national system and the divorce of soil classification from soil-landscape modelling.

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