The why and how of digital soil mapping in Antarctica
Details of Research
TitleThe why and how of digital soil mapping in AntarcticaAbstractThe ice-free regions of Antarctica are one of the most challenging environments on Earth, but also one of the least studied. Although subjected to harsh environmental conditions, life is distributed the throughout soils of the region, and soil bacteria represent a major part of the terrestrial biodiversity of the continent. Antarctic microbial communities are essentially structured by a limited set of abiotic factors, among which are organic carbon, salinity and pH. This study illustrates the potential of GlobalSoilmap methods by mapping soil attributes in the Wright Valley, one of the McMurdo Dry Valleys located in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. A suite of environmental covariates (terrain derivatives, soil map) has been used to model soil organic carbon, salinity, and pH. The results demonstrate the adequacy of digital soil mapping techniques in Antarctica: the resulting soil attribute layers could potentially identify potential microbial habitats at a very good spatial resolution, and more generally provide a wide range of research communities with more data on one of the most remote places on Earth. Copyright 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK.AcknowledgementsN/A - no PDF
TypeBookCitationRoudier, P., McLeod, M., Aislabie, J. and Morgan, F. (2014). The why and how of digital soil mapping in Antarctica. In: Arrouays, D., McKenzie, N., Hempel, J., Richer de Forges, A., McBratney, A.B. (eds) GlobalSoilMap: Basis of the Global Spatial Soil Information System. CRC Press. IdentifierRoudier2014Relevancerank3
Morgan, F., The why and how of digital soil mapping in Antarctica, [Roudier2014]. Antarctica NZ, accessed 25/03/2025, https://adam.antarcticanz.govt.nz/nodes/view/63745
