Unravelling the physical template of a terminal flood plain-wetland sediment storage system

Abstract

Flood plain-wetlands are hotspots of biological diversity and productivity, especially in semiarid environments and this is driven by water subsidies as well as the physical and chemical properties of flood plain-wetland soils. The purpose of this study is to examine surface soil characteristics in a complex, spatially diverse terminal flood plain-wetland to determine whether the surface soil characteristics follow a hydraulic gradient or reflect the more complex spatial mosaic. Surface soil samples (163) were collected from a regular grid with an average spacing of 1.8 km. Multivariate statistical analyses were performed to elicit spatial patterns in soil character and a series of surface maps of soil characteristics were derived to further explore spatial patterns within the flood plain-wetland complex. Results show surface soil characteristics to be spatially heterogeneous at multiple spatial scales and more complex than can be described by a series of hydraulic gradients.