Claire Guenat

Three-dimensional GIS cartography applied to the study of the spatial variation of soil horizons in a Swiss floodplain

Abstract In this study, we propose to establish a framework for the study of the spatial variability of the soils found in the floodplain of the Sarine River and for the visualisation of soil distribution patterns in two- and three-dimensions (2-D, 3-D). This environment is characterised by a large lateral and vertical spatial variability of soils that corresponds to the temporal and spatial variations of the fluvial dynamics of the Sarine. The study was carried out using existing Geographical Information System (GIS) functions combined with applications specific to soil cartography. This particular GIS cartography is based on the notion of the soil horizon instead of that of the soil diagnostic profile. A Global Positioning System (GPS) survey was carried out in order to construct a local Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and to ascertain the spatial coordinates for each of the 181 soil obsevation locations. All data were stored in a GIS database, and both landform modeling and soil cartography was undertaken. GIS, ARC/INFO, and Vertical Mapper for MapInfo were adequate for our linear triangulation interpolation, for contour processing and for the creation of cross-sections as well as the corresponding vertical profiles. These vertical profiles served to illustrate the superposition of soil horizons along any line across the sampled area. A 3-D representation of soil was obtained using the quadratic finite-element method, which is generally employed in geological studies and which we adapted especially for the representation of soil horizons. 3-D cartography of this type allows the spatial pattern of a given horizon — including the variation of its thickness, the superimposition of the different soil horizons, the total soil depth, and the number of horizons at any given location — to be followed through space. Our approach, furthermore, facilitates the perception of soil horizons and their juxtarelationships as 3-D objects, and permits the visualisation of the relationships that exist between any given horizon (or sequence of horizons) and the surface topography. In thus enabling the realistic representation and easy visualisation of the spatial distribution and variability of soils in the landscape, our methodological approach provides a powerful instrument for soil scientists, and a useful decision-support tool for ecosystem management.

The modelling of soil-process functional units based on three-dimensional soil horizon cartography, with an example of denitrification in a riparian zone

This article aims to propose an approach for estimating the three-dimensional (3D) variability of denitrification. The concept of functional horizons is applied to the process of biological denitrification and 3D soil horizon cartography is used to estimate its spatial variation. On one hand, detailed fieldwork (186 pedological auger holes) was undertaken to map 3D horizon distribution within a 3-ha riparian area using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). On the other hand, three classes of denitrifying capacities were defined according to the distribution of the denitrifying enzyme activity of 51 samples. The relationship between the process of denitrification and the cartography is assessed through soil characteristics, which both differentiate soil horizons and control the process of denitrification: organic carbon and textural fractions. This allows a class of denitrifying capacity to be attributed to each soil horizon. This information was inserted into the 3D soil horizon cartography and the denitrifying functional horizons could be delimited. With this approach, field criteria are used and variations of the 3D distribution of denitrification are considered in order to estimate the spatial variation of denitrification within the riparian area being studied.

Dynamics of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition in a Temperate Calcareous Forest Soil

In temperate forest ecosystems, soil acts as a major sink for atmospheric N deposition. A (15)N labeling experiment in a hardwood forest on calcareous fluvisol was performed to study the processes involved. Low amounts of ammonium ((15)NH(4)(+)) or nitrate ((15)NO(3)(-)) were added to small plots. Soil samples were taken after periods ranging from 1 h to 1 yr. After 1 d, the litter layer retained approximately 28% of the (15)NH(4)(+) tracer and 19% of (15)NO(3)(-). The major fraction of deposited N went through the litter layer to reach the soil within the first hours following the tracer application. During the first day, a decrease in extractable (15)N in the soil was observed ((15)NH(4)(+): 50 to 5%; (15)NO(3)(-): 60 to 12%). During the same time, the amount of microbial (15)N remained almost constant and the (15)N immobilized in the soil (i.e., total (15)N recovered in the bulk soil minus extractable (15)N minus microbial (15)N) also decreased. Such results can therefore be understood as a net loss of (15)N from the soil. Such N loss is probably explained by NO(3)(-) leaching, which is enhanced by the well-developed soil structure. We presume that the N immobilization mainly occurs as an incorporation of deposited N into the soil organic matter. One year after the (15)N addition, recovery rates were similar and approximately three-quarters of the deposited N was recovered in the soil. We conclude that the processes relevant for the fate of atmospherically deposited N take place rapidly and that N recycling within the microbes-plants-soil organic matter (SOM) system prevents further losses in the long term.

Topsoil structure stability in a restored floodplain: Impacts of fluctuating water levels, soil parameters and ecosystem engineers

Ecosystem services provided by floodplains are strongly controlled by the structural stability of soils. The development of a stable structure in floodplain soils is affected by a complex and poorly understood interplay of hydrological, physico-chemical and biological processes. This paper aims at analysing relations between fluctuating groundwater levels, soil physico-chemical and biological parameters on soil structure stability in a restored floodplain. Water level fluctuations in the soil are modelled using a numerical surface-water-groundwater flow model and correlated to soil physico-chemical parameters and abundances of plants and earthworms. Causal relations and multiple interactions between the investigated parameters are tested through structural equation modelling (SEM). Fluctuating water levels in the soil did not directly affect the topsoil structure stability, but indirectly through affecting plant roots and soil parameters that in turn determine topsoil structure stability. These relations remain significant for mean annual days of complete and partial (>25%) water saturation. Ecosystem functioning of a restored floodplain might already be affected by the fluctuation of groundwater levels alone, and not only through complete flooding by surface water during a flood period. Surprisingly, abundances of earthworms did not show any relation to other variables in the SEM. These findings emphasise that earthworms have efficiently adapted to periodic stress and harsh environmental conditions. Variability of the topsoil structure stability is thus stronger driven by the influence of fluctuating water levels on plants than by the abundance of earthworms. This knowledge about the functional network of soil engineering organisms, soil parameters and fluctuating water levels and how they affect soil structural stability is of fundamental importance to define management strategies of near-natural or restored floodplains in the future.