Islands of biogeodiversity in arid lands on a polygons map study: Detecting scale invariance patterns from natural resources maps

Abstract

Many maps (geology, hydrology, soil, vegetation, etc.) are created to inventory natural resources. Each of these resources is mapped using a unique set of criteria, including scales and taxonomies. Past research indicates that comparing results of related maps (e.g., soil and geology maps) may aid in identifying mapping deficiencies. Therefore, this study was undertaken in Almería Province, Spain to (i) compare the underlying map structures of soil and vegetation maps and (ii) investígate if a vegetation map can provide useful soil information that was not shown on a soil map. Soil and vegetation maps were imported into ArcGIS 10.1 for spatial analysis, and results then exported to Microsoft Excel worksheets for statistical analyses to evalúate fits to linear and power law regression models. Vegetative units were grouped according to the driving forces that determined their presence or absence: (i) climatophilous (ii) lithologic-climate; and (iii) edaphophylous. The rank abundance plots for both the soil and vegetation maps conformed to Willis or Hollow Curves, meaning the underlying structures of both maps were the same. Edaphophylous map units, which represent 58.5% of the vegetation units in the study área, did not show a good correlation with the soil map. Further investigation revealed that 87% of the edaphohygrophilous units were found in ramblas, ephemeral riverbeds that are not typically classified and mapped as soils in modern systems, even though they meet the definition of soil given by the most commonly used and most modern soil taxonomic systems. Furthermore, these edaphophylous map units tend to be islands of biodiversity that are threatened by anthropogenic activity in the región. Therefore, this study revealed áreas that need to be revisited and studied pedologically. The vegetation mapped in these áreas and the soils that support it are key components of the earth's critical zone that must be studied, understood, and preserved.

Old Processes, New Movements: The Inclusion of Geodiversity in Biological and Ecological Discourse

“…[13] used the term to refer to region-specific diversity of abiotic elements and [55] used the term in conjunction with geomorphodiversity to describe the abiotic features of a territory relative to scale. The spatial aggregation of abiotic and biotic components, namely relationships between plant functional community types and soil and geological variance, has also been termed 'biogeodiversity' [56]. The diversity of abiotic elements across a temporal scale was also included in some definitions of geodiversity [57].…”

“…Geodiversity has been described as the abiotic 'equivalent' of biodiversity in which high geodiversity equates to a high spatial concentration of a diverse range of selected abiotic elements, and, (more qualitatively) where abiotic features or processes considered rare or of a high natural quality are representative of valuable geodiversity [68,69]. Opportunities for exploring relationships between spatial or quantitative elements of geodiversity and biodiversity require advancement in the quantitative detection of geodiversity, for without this, it will be difficult for geodiversity to be included in or alongside biological assessments in a manner that is universally understood [56].…”

“…Findings from quantitative studies examining the relationships between geo-and biodiversity generally indicated that high geodiversity correlated positively with high rates of biodiversity [11], albeit that to date, the scope of such assessments has primarily been limited to more 'obvious' parameters such as soil type [56,70] and climate interactions [71]. Promising developments in GIS and remote sensing methodologies to map the spatial variation of ecosystem services using environmental variables (such as geodiversity) have also occurred recently [2] for which parameters such as lithology, morphometry, soil physical characteristics [72], and relief [34] have been used.…”

“…As a case in point, south-western Australian flora exhibits high endemism and diversity in areas of low abiotic complexity, rarity, or diversity [73]. Indeed, recent attempts to relate soil, geological, and vegetation distributions concluded that other geodiversity elements (pedogenic factors and hydrographic features, not always delineated as soil features) were responsible for the spatial aggregation of plant functional and community types [56]. Thus, the lack of 'equivalency' between terms, and the subtle complexities associated with the long temporal evolution of quantitative geodiversity indicators and elements, creates extra challenges for cross-disciplinary recognition, understanding, and appreciation.…”

Configuration and Evolution of the Landscape from the Geomorphological Map in the Natural Parks Batuecas-Quilamas (Central System, SW Salamanca, Spain)

“…The application of GIS has allowed a great development of the study of active processes and its application to geological risk cartographies (landslides, floods, etc.) [6][7][8][9][10][11]. The evolutionary analysis of the landscape from geomorphological cartography generates synthetic cartographies, elaborated from basic or parametric cartographies that facilitate the environmental and sustainable planning of the territory, where the landscape is a resource to value and to preserve.…”