Efectos de las variables ambientales en la estimación de materia orgánica del suelo a escala regional en un ambiente semiarido (región de murcia, España)

Abstract

The estimation of soil values by means of spatial modeling techniques, based on environmental processes and variables, is used in this work to analyze the effect of these variables on soil organic matter (SOM). Discussing is extremely interesting conclusions can be extracted from the different implications on ecological patterns in the distribution and spatial variability. A database of 1,126 samples of organic matter in the arable layer from the Murcia Region (SE Spain) has been utilized to estimate the SOM contents at the regional scale (more than 10,000 km2), by using 21 environmental variables as predictors. Among the most influential variables are those related to relief (i.e. the slope and terrain curvature), flow accumulation linked to drainage networks, rainfall, solar radiation, and certain specific indices obtained using remote sensing techniques, such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or Clay Minerals Index (CMI).