Soil Systems – a Paradigm Shift Towards Quantitative Pedology and Soil Processes at the Landscape Scale.

The need for soils information to cross scales from point or localized area data up to regional scale can be bridged using a catena-based approach.  Soil Systems, or groups of major catenas, largely define physiographic areas.  They provide an architecture upon which quantitative information can be arrayed and applied in order to explore and predict dynamic process response.  Soil Systems integrate stratigraphy, geomorphology, hydrology and pedology and provides a methodology to extend dynamic ecosystem process to broader areas.