Observations of So s at the Hoillsope Scale in the Cear Creek Watershed in owa, USA

摘要

Precipitation has long been recognized as a critical, active agent of soil formation (e.g., Jenny, 1941, Amundson et al., 2004) with the caveat that actual pedogenesis is driven by the internal behavior of water, not precipitation per se (Schoeneberger and Wysocki, 2005; Lin, 2003; Nordt et al., 2006). Even small differences in water behavior can significantly alter morphological properties such as redoximorphic features, thickness of epipedons, expression of subsurface horizons, etc. (Lin et al., 2007; Jarvis, 2007; Presley et al., 2004). Soil surveyors often map this variability using catena-based soil series (Legros, 2006; Schoeneberger and Wysocki, 2005; Lin et al., 2005), although these same authors note that quantifying hillslope-scale water behavior is central to improving soil maps. They further note the integration of land use impacts on soils and water will be especially valuable for the effective use of natural resources. We introduce one approach to quantifying hillslope processes and land use impacts.