Geoderma 159 (2010) 243251

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Geoderma
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / g e o d e r m a

Review

Soil-factorial models and earth-system science: A review

J.G. Bockheim a,, A.N. Gennadiyev b
a
Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin, 1525 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1299, USA
b
Faculty of Geography, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Earth System Science (ESS) refers to the integrated study of physical, biological, chemical, and social processes
Received 28 January 2010 that dene the conditions on Earth. The Earth is viewed as a series of overlapping spheres, including the
Received in revised form 8 June 2010 atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the geosphere, the biosphere, and the pedosphere. According to ESS none of
Accepted 4 September 2010
these spheres occur in isolation; rather, each interacts to produce the Earth's dynamic systems in a grand
symphony of the spheres. ESS has been recognized as an emerging and strengthening paradigm primarily
Keywords:
Pedosphere
within the disciplines of geology, geography, and hydrology. Although soils are recognized as a key
Global energy cycle component of ESS, this linkage has not been widely and directly recognized in the soils community. Herein,
Global water cycle we summarize the role that soil science, and especially pedology, plays in the Earth's dynamic systems.
Global geochemical cycles The benets of the earth-system science approach to studying pedology are described, including (i) a better
Pedogenetic models understanding of complex systems, (ii) a greater ability to model global and the pedosphere systems,
(iii) improved prescriptions for sustainable environmental management, and (iv) holistic programs of
instruction in soil science.
2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
2. Soils and the global energy, water and geochemical cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
3. Overview: soil-factorial models and earth-system science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
3.1. Soil-factorial models and Earth systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
3.2. Soil-process and -pathway models and Earth systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
3.3. Mechanistic soil models and earth-system science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
4. Pedology contributions to earth-system science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
5. Benets of the earth-system science approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Acknowledgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

1. Introduction
Initially promoted by the United States National Aeronautical
Space Administration (NASA) to dene its research agenda, Earth
System Science (ESS) refers to the integrated study of physical,
biological, chemical, and social processes that dene conditions on
Earth (Earth System Sciences Committee, NASA Advisory Council,
1988). The Earth is viewed as a series of overlapping spheres,
including the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the geosphere, the
biosphere, and the pedosphere. Earth System Science recognizes
Corresponding author. Fax: + 1 608 265 2595.
E-mail address: bockheim@wisc.edu (J.G. Bockheim).
that none of these spheres occurs in isolation; rather, each interacts to
produce the Earth's dynamic systems in a grand symphony of the
spheres (Rankey and Ruzek, 2006, p. 197). Not only does ESS offer a
systems approach to environmental-change research, but also it plays
an important role in teaching science from a state, process, and
understanding perspective (Johnson, 2006). Although ESS was
developed to address global issues, the approach can be used at the
landscape/ecosystem scale or at ner resolutions. The timeframe for
ESS ranges approximately from b1 to 106 years.
Thus far, ESS has been recognized as an emerging and strength-
ening paradigm primarily within the disciplines of geology, geogra-
phy, and hydrology. For example, a special issue (volume 33, number
9) of the journal Earth Surface Processes and Landforms was devoted to

0016-7061/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2010.09.005
244 J.G. Bockheim, A.N. Gennadiyev / Geoderma 159 (2010) 243251

Geomorphology and Earth System Science (Rice and Macklin, 2008).
The 33rd International Geological Congress, held in 2008 in Oslo,
Norway, focused on the theme Earth System Science: Foundation for
Sustainable Development. ESS also has led to the development of
geologic informatics at the U.S. Geological Survey (Gundersen, 2008)
and to several Earth System Science Partnership Initiatives that
address the impacts of land-use change on global and regional
sustainability (Groisman and Bartalev, 2007; http://www.essp.org).
The earth-systems approach has not been without criticism. Richards
and Clifford (2008) argued that ESS neglected historical antecedents,
went beyond critical scientic appraisal, and extended to matters of
evaluating institutional structures. They also presented a case for a
more locally oriented ESS, which they termed local earth-system
science (LESS).
The journal, Hydrology and Earth System Science (HESS), was
launched in 1997 to recognize and understand the interactions among
water, earth, ecosystems, and humans from a hydrological perspec-
tive. Similarly, geographers have adopted earth-system science
(Johnston, 2006), which lends itself particularly well to human
interactions with earth systems (Liverman and Cuesta, 2008).
Although soils are recognized as a key component of ESS (Fig. 1),
this linkage has not been widely recognized in the soils community.
Phillips (1999) considered the soil as a prototype of the earth surface
system in his book, Earth Surface Systems: Complexity, Order, and Scale.
In addition, three recent programs emphasize the earth-systems
approach and recognize the pedosphere as a key component. The
Earth Science for Society Foundation Planet Earth program (http://
www.yearofplanetearth.org) views the soil as Earth's living skin.
The USA National Science Foundation's National Center of Earth-
Surface Dynamics advanced the concept of an integrated, predictive
science of the skin of the earth, referred to as the critical zone
(Wilding and Lin, 2006). The USA National Research Council recently
published Landscapes on the Edge: New Horizons for Research on
Earth's Surface (NAS, 2010). Soil is recognized as part of the dynamic
interface that responds to environmental forcings and participates in
an impact-feedback loop...over a wide range of temporal and spatial
scales (p. 2).
There have been a number of papers evaluating and pros and cons
of soil-factor models (Yaalon, 1975; Phillips, 1989; Wilding, 1994;
Paton et al., 1996; Amundson and Jenny, 1997; Ibez et al., 2005).
Despite their limitations, as will be seen, soil-forming factor models
have played an important role in dening earth-system science. The
primary objectives of this review are to provide examples of the
functioning of soils in Earth systems, to illustrate how soil-factorial
models have benetted earth-system science, and to illustrate how
the ESS approach may benet the discipline of soil science.
2. Soils and the global energy, water and geochemical cycles
Soil plays a key role in Earth's global energy, water and
geochemical cycles. With regards to the global energy cycle, the soil
and plant cover contribute a net emission of 20% of the incoming solar
radiation as outgoing infrared radiation (Peixoto and Oort, 1991). In
addition, the sensible or soil heat ux contributes 6% to the outgoing
infrared radiation. Approximately 62% of the water falling on land is
either stored within or evaporated from the soil and plants, with the
remainder running off into the world's oceans (Hartmann, 1994). Of
the water stored on land, 25% is stored in the vadose and saturated

The Bretherton Diagram

Physical Climate System

Climate
Atmospheric Physics/Dynamics Change

Terrestrial
Ocean Dynamics
Energy/Moisture
Human
Activities
Global Moisture Soil CO2

Marine Terrestrial Land

Biogeochemistry Ecosystems Use

Tropospheric Chemistry CO2

Biogeochemical Cycles Pollutants

(from Earth System Science: An Overview, NASA, 1988)

Fig. 1. A model for earth-system science, the Bretherton Diagram.

Johnson, 2006 adapted from Earth System Sciences Committee, NASA Advisory Council, 1988.
 J.G. Bockheim, A.N. Gennadiyev / Geoderma 159 (2010) 243251
zones of the soil, with the bulk of the water (74%) being stored in
glaciers. Soil moisture plays a major role in Earth's landwaterenergy
balance and may provide a positive feedback as the climate warms in
the future (Ducharne and Laval, 2000; Koster et al., 2004; Huntington,
2006).
Recently, multi-sensor/multi-platform remote-sensing approaches
have been used to model the feedback of land surface processes
between water and energy cycles (McCabe et al., 2008). Key input
variables involving the soil and its cover include land surface
temperature and emissivity, land cover type, and albedo. Several
studies have examined the energy and water balance of specic
biomes, including high-latitude wetlands underlain by permafrost
(Rouse, 2000), wet subalpine grassland (Rosset et al., 2001), and the
Mongolian steppe (Yamanaka et al., 2007). In general, these studies
stress the importance of the effects of net radiation and canopy
structure on evapotranspiration, soil heat ux, and soil-water content.
The pedosphere plays an important role in global geochemical
cycles, in particular to the cycling of C, N, P, and Si (e.g., Schlesinger,
1997; Bashkin and Howarth, 2008; Jacobson et al., 2009). Perhaps the
global C cycle has received the most attention and has been viewed as
a test of our knowledge of Earth as a system (Falkowski et al., 2000).
The atmospheric concentration of CO2 has increased by about 32%
since the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Recently, the CO2
concentration of the atmosphere has increased about 3 Pg C/year,
and by the end of the century its concentration may be twice pre-
industrial levels (Janzen, 2004). The four principle sources of the
increase in atmospheric CO2 include fossil fuel combustion, defores-
tation, soil cultivation, and industrial manufacture of cement and
fertilizer/liming materials.
World soils comprise the third largest among active global C pools
(2000 Pg of organic C and 750 Pg of inorganic C to a 1-m depth),
which is 3.2 times the atmospheric pool (720 Pg) and 4.1 times the
biotic pool (560 Pg). About 66 to 90 Pg C of the soil organic carbon
(SOC) pool has been lost to the atmosphere due to conversion of
native forest and grasslands systems to agricultural systems and soil
cultivation (Lal, 2001). Most agricultural soils have lost 25 to 75% of
their original C pool, and severely degraded soils have lost 70 to 90% of
the antecedent pool.
The largest C ux on land is respiration, which contributes 120 Pg C/
year to the atmosphere. About half of these respiration losses are from
soil (heterotrophic) respiration (Schlesinger, 1997). Carbon sequestra-
tion in arable soils is likely to increase nitrous oxides emissions, possibly
offsetting reductions in climate radiative forcing (Li et al., 2005). The
global energy, water, and carbon balances are strongly linked (Sellers
et al., 1997). Plant photosynthesis is the key link between the energy
(radiation) and carbon balances and evapotranspiration is the key link
between the water and energy balances.
The production and industrial use of articial N fertilizers
worldwide has led not only to an acceleration of the N cycle but
also to other environmental problems, such as eutrophication of
terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and global acidication (Gruber
and Galloway, 2008). On land the soil pool (460 Pg) exceeds that of
land plants (1114 Pg) (Sderlund and Svensson, 1976).
The perturbations of the global N and C cycles caused by human
activity are in part linked to each other. As N is deposited to the ground
from atmospheric deposition or fertilization, plant growth is stimulat-
ed, thereby enhancing uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere (Gruber and
Galloway, 2008). Fertilizer applications of N (100 Tg N/year) are
approaching that from N2 xation (110 Tg/N/year). Excess fertilization
of crops has led to elevated levels of nitrates in groundwater and other
public drinking water supplies.
With regards to the global phosphorus cycle, the soil pool is the
largest pool on land (200,000 Tg), with land plants containing
3000 Tg P. The dominant P input on land is from fertilization, which
is estimated to be 12 Tg/year (Schlesinger, 1997). The dominant
output is through runoff which accounts for 31 Tg P/year (Savenko,
245
2001). This estimate is more than twice that estimated for the pre-
industrial period (14 Tg P/year) and may be causing a pronounced
growth of biological productivity of the seas and oceans, which is
related to the ocean's ability to x CO2. Accumulation of P in surface
waters on land has led to eutrophication.
The soil constitutes the largest terrestrial Si pool, and mineral
weathering represents the greatest ux of Si (Street-Perrot and
Barker, 2008). The global geochemical cycles of carbon and silicon are
coupled by the drawdown of atmospheric CO2 through chemical
weathering of Ca- and Mg-silicate minerals in the soil. Landscapes
dominated by accumulator plants, such as tropical rainforests and
grasslands, act as silica factories, by taking up Si, accumulating it in
their tissues as opal phytoliths, and releasing the Si as litterfall.
3. Overview: soil-factorial models and earth-system science
There have been several comprehensive reviews of pedogenetic
models (Djikerman, 1974; Smeck et al., 1983; Hoosbeek and Bryant,
1992; Schaetzl and Anderson, 2005; Minasny et al., 2008). Minasny
et al. (2008) divided quantitative pedogenetic models into the
following categories: (i) factorial, (ii) energy, and (iii) mass-balance.
Soil-factorial models were further subdivided into qualitative (also
called soil-process or soil-pathway models), quantitative-empirical,
and quantitativemechanistic. Hoosbeek and Bryant (1992) divided
models into qualitative vs. quantitative, functional vs. mechanistic,
and according to organizational hierarchy of soil systems from soil
region (i + 3) to the pedon (i) and nally to the molecular level (i-3)
We adopted both systems and in the following section illustrate how
these models have contributed to a greater understanding of earth
systems (Table 1).
3.1. Soil-factorial models and Earth systems
Near the end of the 19th century, the emerging discipline of
pedology was already based on the ideas of complex interactions of
natural components, e.g., biota, rocks, climate, and topography.
Pedologists of that period stressed that soils and other natural bodies
should be studied in the context of their environment and not by
separate properties and factors. For instance, Dokuchaev wrote in 1899:
It is beyond doubt that the cognition of natureits forces, elements,
phenomena, and bodieshas progressed with a great rate in the 19th
century However there were mainly investigated only separate
bodies or phenomenaminerals, rocks, plants, animals, re (volca-
nism), water, earth, air. The ratios and correlation between themthe
genetic, eternal, and naturally determined relationship that always
exists between forces, bodies, and phenomena of living and inorganic
nature have escaped attention. And it is these proportions and
regular interactions that constitute the real essence of the cognition
of nature, the core of genuine natural science (Dokuchaev, 1899,
p. 317).
Dokuchaev stressed that studying the genetic, eternal, and
always naturally determined relations should acquire the form of
a special discipline that would promote the integrity of the natural
sciences. He formulated the main principles of this discipline and put
them into practice as genetic soil science, i.e., pedology. Dokuchaev
(1898) further wrote this discipline is still young and forming itself
(Richthofen, Walter, Hilgard, and the Russian school of soil
scientists), but it undoubtedly promises to produce good and achieve
results for humankind in the near future. The above-mentioned
discipline is in the center of all the most important branches of
modern natural sciencegeology, orography, climatology, botany,
zoology, and, nally, the study of man. So it naturally brings closer
those branches and even links them, restoring the integrity of nature
and its cognition. (pp. 5556). Vernadskii (1998) developed these
branches and incorporated Dokuchaev's ideas in his concept of the
biosphere.
246 J.G. Bockheim, A.N. Gennadiyev / Geoderma 159 (2010) 243251

Table 1
Soil-factorial models and earth-system science.

Concept Description of model Model Model Key references

type1 type2

Soil-forming factor model S = f(cl, o, r, p, t) Fa Ql/Fu/i+ Dokuchaev, 1898; 1899; Jenny,

1941; 1961
Soil as excited skin of the Short and long geochemical cycles Ql Ql/Fu/i+ Nikiforoff (1959)
earth's surface
Soil prole development The soil prole results from independent factors, weathering, transformation, and Ql Ql/Fu/i Yaalon (1960)
model morphogenesis
Soil as a bioreactor Soil constituents (gases, water, biota, and solid phase) result outputs and inputs Ql Ql/Fu/i+ Targulian and Sokolova (1996)
Soil as a bio-abiotic Soil ecosystem divided into compartments and functions Ql Ql/Fu/i+ Nikitin (2001)
polyfunctional system
Soil-process models s = f(inputs + outputs + transfers + transformations) Ql Ql/Fu/i Simonson (1959)
Soil evolution model s = f (P, R) where P = progressive pedogenesis; R = retrogressive pedogenesis Ql Ql/Fu/i Johnson and Watson-Stegner
(1987)
Soils as an extended Co-evolution of soils and biota; genetic signatures in soil morphology Ql Ql/Fu/i+ Phillips (2009)
composite phenotype
Dynamic pedogenesis Soil factor equation expressed as dynamic-rate model Ql Ql/M/i Johnson et al. (1990)
model
Soil energy model s = f(o ,w, t) where o = organic matter production, w = water available for leaching; Ql Ql/M/i Runge (1973)
t = time
Brash model Dynamic solution of cl,o,r,p,t; dX/dt = f(b,r,a,s,h) + z, where X = system; Qt Ql/M/i Huggett, 1995; Phillips, 1998
b = biosphere; r = relief; a = atmosphere; s = pedosphere; h = hydrosphere
Soilplant and soil genesis Soil viewed as compartments; inputs and outputs modeled Qm Qt/M/i+ Kline (1973)
model
Soil landscape model Soil viewed in 3 dimensional soillandscape system; uxes of the material modeled Qm Qt/M/i+ Huggett (1975)
within and across system
1
After Minasny et al. (2008): Fa = factorial; Ql = qualitative; Qm = quantitativemechanistic.
2
After Hoosbeek and Bryant (1992): Ql = qualitative; Qt = quantitative; F = functional; M = mechanistic; i+ = soil region, catena, polypedon, i = pedon; i = horizon, peds,
molecular.

According to Dobrovolskii (1996), Dokuchaev anticipated the Jenny (1941) expanded upon Shaw's equation, rewriting it as the
main principle of Bertalanffy's (1968) systematic approach, which now-famous clorpt equation:
became widespread in the mid-20th century and proceeded from a
comprehensive analysis of the interactions involved in soil formation
S = f cl; o; r; p; t 2
and the study of soil genesis. Being familiar with Dokuchaev's
concepts through their translation from Russian into German by K.
D. Glinka, Shaw (1930) recognized that soils are formed by the where cl = climate, o = organisms, r = relief, p = parent material, and
modication and partial destruction of the parent material by the t = time. Jenny (1961) expanded his functional-factorial model:
action of water, air, temperature changes, and organic life (p. 239).
He expressed these potent factors in an equation: l; s; v; a = f L0 ; Px ; t 3

T
S = M C + V 1 where l = ecosystem properties, s = soil properties, v = vegetation,
and a = animal properties, which are related to three main state
where S = soil formed from the parent material (M) by the work of factors: L0 = the initial state of a system, Px = external ux potentials,
climatic factors (C) and vegetation (V) through a period of time (T). and t = age of the system.

Fig. 2. A general model of biotic/abiotic systems.

Targulian and Sokolova, 1996.
 J.G. Bockheim, A.N. Gennadiyev / Geoderma 159 (2010) 243251
Fig. 3. The place of the soil at the intersection of the main energy and matter uxes
and cycles.
Targulian and Sokolova, 1996.
3.2. Soil-process and -pathway models and Earth systems
An early soil-process model was that of Nikiforoff (1959), who
recognized pedogenesis as consisting of transactions in matter and
energy between the soil and its surroundings. He was the rst
to describe the soil as the excited skin of the subaerial part of
the Earth's crust (p. 186). Simonson's (1959) soil-process model
considers the soil to be an open system resulting from additions to,
removals from, and translocations and transformations of matter
and energy within the prole. The model can be depicted in the
equation:
S = f additions; removals; translocations; transformations
The soil evolution model of Johnson and Watson-Stegner (1987) is
based on the observation that the soil, S, evolves along two co-acting
Fig. 4. The structural model of biopedocoenosis.
Nikitin, 2001.
247
pathways, progressive (P) and regressive (R) and can be expressed in
the equation:
S = f P; R 5
The model also synthesizes the factorial and qualitative, functional
approaches to soil development.
Johnson et al. (1990) also developed a dynamic pedogenesis
model:
S = f D; P; dD = dt; dP; dt 6
where D = dynamic vectors, dD/dt is their rate of change through
time, P is a set of passive factors, and dP/dt is their rate of change
through time.
Targulian and Sokolova (1996) considered the role of the soil in
natural, open, surface-planetary, mantle, biotic/abiotic systems, such
as the biosphere, landscape cover, mantles of sedimentary rocks,
bottom sediments of freshwater pools, lakes, and oceans, the photic
zone of the ocean, and near-land atmospheric layers inhabited by
biota (Fig. 2). According to these authors, the place and the specicity
of soil systems among biotic/abiotic systems on the planetary surface
are determined by the behavior of the solid phase products (SPP),
which are commonly made up of mineral, organic, and organo-
mineral compounds. The atmospheric and proper aqueous biotic/
abiotic ecosystems renew all their elements relatively rapidly and are
unable to accumulate any of the nal SPP continuously in situ.
Targulian and Sokolova (1996) assessed and graphically illustrated
(Fig. 3) the role of soil as a subsystem in the larger Earth system and
the soil's place at the intersection of the main matter cycles at the land
surface, as well as different specic times of various matter uxes
through the soil system, i.e., the renewal rates of different compounds
4 in the system.
Dobrovolskii and Nikitin, 1990; Dobrovolskii et al., 2001; Nikitin
(2001) recognized the soil as a bio-abiotic polyfunction system and
perhaps have most clearly demonstrated the role of soils in earth-
system science. Nikitin's scheme (Fig. 4) includes the functions that
248 J.G. Bockheim, A.N. Gennadiyev / Geoderma 159 (2010) 243251
Fig. 5. Soils as extended composite phenotypes.
Phillips, 2009.
are dependent on specic soil properties, i.e., physical, chemical,
informational, and integral, and holistic. According to Nikitin (2001)
the most important soil function pertaining to physical soil properties
is that of living space, or habitat, for living organisms. Nikitin (2001)
argued that because of this only a small number of the majority of
species exist on Earth at a given time. If there were no limiting factors,
this number would be much greater. As an example, he cited
Vernadskii (1998), who showed that if all newly born bacteria were
preserved on Earth, and had the ability to further reproduce, they
would cover the entire planet in just a day and a half.
Not only is the soil a living space for soil inhabitants, but also it
buffers organisms from dramatic soil thermal changes. Fluctuations in
the temperature and humidity of the soil air in subsurface layers are
less pronounced than those at the soil surface. It is important for land
managers to remember the living space function and preserve the
habitat of soil organisms. Soils also are important for mechanical
support of plants and as a depot of seeds and other embryos.
Dobrovolskii and Nikitin, 1990; Dobrovolskii et al., 2001; Nikitin
(2001) identied biogeocoenotic functions that are controlled by soil
chemical and physicochemical properties (Fig. 4). The soil acts as a
source of nutrients, a stimulator and inhibitor of biochemical and
Fig. 6. A factor-pathways-process model of soil development.
Yaalon, 1960.
other processes, a depot of soil moisture, nutrients, and energy, and
plays a critical role in the sorption of matter and microorganisms. The
more recalcitrant food reserves ensure the survival of organisms from
episodic changes in the external environment and human manipula-
tions such as fertilizer applications.
Another important ecosystem function of soils that is controlled
by their chemical and physicochemical properties is the ability to
stimulate or inhibit biochemical processes (Fig. 4). For the life of many
ecosystems the sorption function of soils is very important. This soil
function is manifested not only by the xation of various compounds
reaching the soil surface but also by the retention of soil microorganisms
on the surface of colloidal particles (Dobrovolskii and Nikitin, 1990;
Nikitin, 2001; Dobrovolskii et al., 2001. Without this important function,
the majority of microorganisms would be translocated beyond the limits
of the soil prole due to deep leaching in the vadose zone.
Several important biogeocoenotic functions of soils are related to
their ability to store information (Fig. 4). For example, soils can transmit
signals to the biota. The rise in soil temperature in the spring is a
signal that triggers biological activity of plant roots. There are holistic
biogeocoenotic functions of the soil that are based on interrelated
properties and processes. These include the role of the soil as a
living lter, i.e., as a sanitary function, and as a buffer and protective
screen for biogeocoenotic systems (Dobrovolskii and Nikitin, 1990;
Dobrovolskii et al., 2001; Nikitin, 2001).
Finally, another important and poorly understood soil function is
its role in the evolution of organisms on land. This role was recognized
by Shmal'gauzen (1988) who conducted fundamental studies on the
co-evolution of insects and other groups of organisms in the soil.
According to Gennadiyev (2001), there is an additional soil
function that is very important for the existence of ecosystems. This
is the specic role of a soil in the complex processes in the
development of particular biocoenoeses and the biosphere as a
whole. Soil is an indispensable ecosystem component, in which cyclic
reversible changes in the ecosystem become a directed progressive
evolution in the soil.
In a recent publication, Phillips (2009) recognized the soil as an
extended composite phenotype. The theory is based on the notion
that the Earth's soils are based on selective pressures as well as biota,
suggesting the co-evolution of soils and biota in response to the same
environmental forcings (Fig. 5).
Soil-pathway models depict the main compartments of the system
and the pathways or uxes linking them. Yaalon (1960) prepared a soil-
pathway model for the 7th International Congress of Soil Science
(Fig. 6). This model expresses the compartments in boxes at the corners
of the diagram (c.f., atmosphere, parent materials, ground and surface
water, soil prole) and the driving variables as circles (note: the
 J.G. Bockheim, A.N. Gennadiyev / Geoderma 159 (2010) 243251 249

factor model to meet the theoretical requirements of a dynamic

systems approach:

dX = dt = f b; r; a; s; h + z 8

where X is the system under investigation, b is the biosphere, r is

relief, a is the atmosphere, s is the pedosphere, h is the hydrosphere,
and z denotes external forcing factors. Phillips (1998) reformulated
the state-factor model (Eq. (2)) as a nonlinear, dynamical system
following the brash approach of Huggett (1995) and applied the
model to study soil carbon dynamics.
The models of Kline (1973) and Huggett (1975) are considered to be
quantitative, mechanistic models (Table 1). Kline's (1973) model was a
compartment model that simulated inputs and outputs to the system.

n n 9
Fig. 7. A factor-pathways model by Dent et al. (2005) for Year of Planet Earth. dC j = dt = ij Ci ji C j
t=0 t=0

where Cj = content of the jth compartment; Ci = content of the ith

biosphere is treated as a driving variable rather than as a compartment).
The model broadly considers (1) independent factors, (2) weathering,
(3) transformation products (organic matter, resistant residues,
alteration compounds, and the soil solution), and (4) morphogenesis.
Pathways linking the compartments or representing the driving
variables are shown as arrows. Prepared for the Year of Planet Earth,
Fig. 7 is an example of a soil-pathway model. The pedosphere is linked to
the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere by pathways
involving movement of water, gases, energy, and dissolved and
particulate substances.
3.3. Mechanistic soil models and earth-system science
Runge (1973) developed a qualitative, mechanistic model of soil
development based on energy vectors that are operative in the soil.
The model can be expressed in the equation:
S = f o; w; t
where S = soil development, o = organic matter production (or lack of
mineralization), w = amount of water available for leaching, and
t = time. These factors were considered to be both intensity factors
and to be conditioned by a number of capacity factors. Proxy parameters
such as available P were used for organic matter production,
precipitation for available water, etc.
Huggett's (1995) brash model is another example of a
qualitative, mechanistic model. The model modied Jenny's state-
compartment which is a donor compartment to the jth; ij = rate
constant for transfer from ith to jth compartment; ij = rate constant for
transfer out of jth compartment; and n = number of compartments. He
provided three examples, with the last example modeling aspects of soil
formation. The soil was divided into compartments (layers) and the
material was exported from each compartment by the soil solution,
uptake by vegetation, erosion, and deep drainage. The material was then
imported as atmospheric inputs, restitution (litterfall, throughfall,
stemow) from vegetation, and as animal activity.
Huggett (1975) developed a landscape model that was compara-
ble to Kline's (1973) model in that it viewed the soil as a three-
dimension component of the soillandscape system. The model
considered uxes within and across the system.
4. Pedology contributions to earth-system science
The NAS (2010) Landscapes on the Edge identied nine grand
7 challenges. In Table 2 we identify some of the contributions that pedology
has made to these challenges. Ruhe's (1969) Quaternary Landscapes in
Iowa laid many of the principles of paleopedology in enhancing our
understanding of Earth's past environments. An understanding of soil
spatial variability has enabled an understanding of geopatterns on the
Earth's surface. Park et al. (2001) used a simple process-based terrain
characterization model to identify the occurrence of soils over a complex
landscape. The soils could be differentiated into pedogeomorphological
units with similar hydrological, geomorphological, and pedological
processes.

Table 2
Contributions of pedology to earth-system science.

Grand challenge1 Contribution Example

1. What does our planet's past tell us about its future? Paleopedology and the Earth's past Ruhe (1969)
2. How do geopatterns on Earth's surface arise and what do they tell us about processes? Soil spatial variability and geopatterns Park et al. (2001)
on Earth's surface
Soil models and Earth's surface processes Minasny et al. (2008)
3. How do landscapes inuence and record climate and tectonics? Soils and climate change Lal (2004)
Soils and tectonics Rockwell (2000)
4. How does the biogeochemical reactor of the Earth's surface respond to and shape Soils as a biogeochemical reactor Dobrovolskii and Nikitin, 1990; Targulian
landscapes from local to global scales? and Sokolova, 1996
5. What are the transport laws that govern the evolution of the Earth's surface? Vadose zone hydrology and evolution of Lin et al. (2005)
Earth's surface
6. How do ecosystems and landscapes co-evolve? Co-evolution of ecosystems and Phillips (2009)
landscapes
7. What controls landscape resilience to change? Soil landscape interactions and models Minasny et al. (2008)
8. How will Earth's surface evolve in the Anthropocene? Soil processes during the Anthropocene Richter (2007)
9. How can earth surface science contribute to a sustainable Earth surface? Soils and sustainability Doran et al. (1996)
1
Challenges identied in Landscapes on the Edge: New Horizons for Research on Earth's Surface (NAS, 2010).
250 J.G. Bockheim, A.N. Gennadiyev / Geoderma 159 (2010) 243251
The development of soil genesis models has been important for
elucidating Earth's surface processes. Minasny et al. (2008) reviewed
quantitative models for pedogenesis and suggested that factorial,
energy, and mass-balance models may eventually be integrated for a
better understanding of Earth surface processes.
Soils may respond to climate change and inuence climate change.
Lal (2004) illustrated how soil C sequestration has impacted and will
continue to impact global climate change and food security. Similarly,
there is interest in how landscapes and soils record tectonics.
Rockwell (2000) has used soil geomorphology extensively in fault
studies. Soils have applications for dating of faults, establishing fault
activity, correlation of displaced surfaces and deposits, and establish-
ing long-term slip rates.
As a biogeochemical reactor, soils play an important role in
determining how Earth's surface responds and determination land-
scapes. For example, Targulian and Sokolova (1996) considered the soil
as a biotic/abiotic natural system. They viewed the soil as a reactor and
regulator of biospheric interactions.
A mechanistic understanding of links among climate, hydrology,
geology, biota, land use, and other parameters is a fundamental goal of
Earth surface process research (NAS, 2010). Soils are a key component
of the critical zone, and the emphasis in pedology is shifting to
hydropedology, which quanties spatially and temporally variable
processes upon which the hydrologic cycle and ecosystems depend
(Lin et al., 2005).
An understanding of the co-evolution of ecosystems and land-
scapes is germane to an understanding of life on Earth's surface.
Phillips (2009) reviewed the paleopedology literature in support of
the notion that soils and biota co-evolve. His concept of the soil as a
extended composite phenotype implies that signicant biological
changes should be reected in equally signicant pedological changes.
According to Phillips (2009), the concept of genetic signatures in soil
morphology may have implications in the search for extraterrestrial
life and extends the notion of Earth as a set of tightly coupled,
densely interwoven systems (p. 143).
There is concern regarding the controls on landscape resilience to
nature and human-caused changes. Studies of soillandscape interac-
tions and models have enabled a clearer understanding of landscape
changes. Rudimentary mass-balance models can simulate soil thickness
and organic carbon variation in the landscape (Minasny et al., 2008).
Moreover, the mass-balance model provides a valuable platform to
model soil and link pedology to other modern earth science disciplines
(Minasny et al., 2008, p. 140).
A key question raised by Landscapes on the Edge (NAS, 2010) is
how will Earth's surface evolve in the Anthropocene, the present
period when human actions have been so extensive. Richter (2007)
identied humanity's transformation of Earth's soils from a metape-
dogenesis viewpoint and as pedology's new frontier. He challenged
scientists to develop a pedology with broad purview and decades'
time scale, a pedology that supports the science and management of
the environment, ecosystems, and global change (p. 957).
Finally, the issue of Earth's sustainability is of concern, including the
excited skin or pedosphere. The soil can be viewed as a vital, living,
and nite resource that plays a key role in global function and
sustainability (Doran et al. (1996). Soil health is inextricably interwo-
ven with food quality and human health. Pedological (biological)
indicators are important for screening the condition, quality, and health
of the soil.
5. Benets of the earth-system science approach
There are several benets of the earth-system science approach
to studying soil science in general and pedology in particular, including
(1) a better understanding of complex systems, (2) a greater ability to
model global and pedospheric systems, (3) improved prescriptions for
sustainable environmental management, and (4) a holistic program of
instruction in soil science.
Complex systems are composed of interconnected parts that as a
whole exhibit one or more properties not observable from the
properties of the individual parts. Main features of complex systems
include (1) boundaries that are difcult to determine; (2) an open
rather than closed system; (3) the response to driving variables may
be nonlinear; and (4) the system is characterized by feedback loops.
Phillips (1998) showed how nonlinear dynamical systems theory
could be applied to pedology, specically Jenny's factors of soil
formation model, which involved the interaction of complex systems
theory. Complex systems theory was used to study soil complexity
and environmental hetereogeneity at the global scale (Caniego et al.,
2006). Finally, soils are a key component of complex ecological (Wu
and David, 2002) and geologic (Werner, 1999) systems.
Soils have played a key role in modeling Earth systems, particularly
for the climate system. Several models have emphasized the strong
coupling between soil moisture and atmospheric precipitation
(Koster et al., 2004) and land freeze-thaw (Entekhabi et al., 2004).
The pedosphere is a critical component of the Earth system for
modeling the exchanges of energy, water, and carbon between
continents and the atmosphere (Sellers et al., 1997). Soils have also
been central to models predicting global warming effects on the land
and ocean C cycle (Lenton, 2003; Brandeau and Mohtar, 2009).
As the human population continues to expand from the present 7
billion towards 12 billion by 2100, there will be a vast development of all
resources to support this population (Fyfe, 1996). Earth-system science
will play an important role in tracking energy, water and chemical
elements. Sustainability science has been recognized as an emerging
research program that focuses on the dynamic interactions between
Earth systems and society (Clark and Dickson, 2003). The role of humans
in land-use change is one of the critical links between people and the
Earth system (Liverman and Cuesta, 2008). Soil erosion, soil pollution,
soil carbon loss are three aspects of the pedosphere that are especially
important in sustainability science. For example, soil erosion has been
identied as a key indicator of sustainable environments (Liverman
et al., 1988).
Sponsored by NASA, Earth System Science Education for the 21st
Century is a collaborative program in undergraduate/graduate educa-
tion for preparing and sharing learning resources focused on the
fundamental understanding and application of ESS principles for the
classroom and laboratory (http://esse21.usra.edu/ESSE21/). Rankey and
Ruzek (2006) identied a number of programs, courses, and learning
modules in ESS. The fundamental advantages of ESS in the college
curriculum are the holistic perspective (i.e., symphony of the spheres;
Rankey and Ruzek, 2006) and the teaching of science as state, process
and understanding (Johnson, 2006).
Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to two external reviewers who suggested
additional programs dealing with Earth System Science.
References
Amundson, R., Jenny, H., 1997. On a state factor model of ecosystems. Bioscience 47,
536543.
Bashkin, V.N., Howarth, R.W., 2008. Modern Biogeochemistry. Kluwer Academic
Publishers, Norwell, Massachusetts.
Bertalanffy, L., 1968. General Systems Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications.
G. Braziller, New York.
Brandeau, E., Mohtar, R.H., 2009. Modeling the soil system: bridging the gap between
pedology and soilwater physics. Global and Planetary Change 67, 5161.
Caniego, J., Ibanez, J.J., Martinez, F.S.J., 2006. Selfsimilarity of pedotaxa distributions at
the planetary scale; a multifractal approach. Geoderma 134, 306317.
Clark, W.C., Dickson, N.M., 2003. Sustainability science: the emerging research program.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States 100,
80598061.
 J.G. Bockheim, A.N. Gennadiyev / Geoderma 159 (2010) 243251
Dent, D., Hartemink, A., Kimble, J., 2005. SoilEarth's Living Skin. Earth Sciences for
Society Foundation, Year of Planet Earth. http://yearofplanetearth.org/content/
downloads/Soils.pdf.
Doran, J.W., Sarrantonio, M., Liebig, M., 1996. Soil health and sustainability. Advances in
Agronomy 56, 154.
Djikerman, J.C., 1974. Pedology as a science: the role of data, models and theories in the
study of natural soil systems. Geoderma 11, 7393.
Dobrovolskii, G.V., 1996. Dokuchaev and the present-day soil science. Eurasian Soil
Science 29, 105109.
Dobrovolskii, G.V., Nikitin, E.D., 1990. Soil Functions in the Biosphere and Ecosystems:
The Ecological Signicance of Soils. Nauka, Moscow. 262 p.
Dobrovolskii, G.V., Nikitin, E.D., Karpachevskii, L.O., 2001. New approaches to the
concept of soil place in the biosphere. Eurasian Soil Science 34 (Suppl. 1), S1S5.
Dokuchaev, V.V., 1899. On the Theory of Natural Zones. Horizontal and Vertical Soil
Zones. Sankt-Petersburg // Dokuchaev V.V. 1949. Selected works. V. 3. Moscow,
Sel'khozgiz, pp. 317329.
Dokuchaev, V.V., 1898. Fundamentals of Agriculture. // Dokuchaev V.V.1961. Writings.
V. 8. Soviet Academy of Sciences Press, Moscow, pp. 5557.
Ducharne, A., Laval, K., 2000. Inuence of the realistic description of soil water holding
capacity on the global water cycle in a GCM. Journal of Climate 13 (4393), 4413.
Earth System Sciences Committee, N.A.S.A., Council, Advisory, 1988. Earth System
Science, A Closer View. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washing-
ton, D.C.. 208 pp.
Entekhabi, D., Njoku, E.G., Houser, P., et al., 2004. The hydrosphere state (hydros) satellite
mission: an Earth System pathnder for global mapping of soil moisture and land
freeze/thaw. IEEE Transactions of Geosciences & Remote Sensing 42, 21842195.
Falkowski, P., Scholes, R.J., Boyle, E., Canadell, J., Caneld, D., Eisner, J., Gruber, N.,
Hibbard, K., Hgberg, Linder, S., Mackenzie, F.T., Moore III, B., Petersen, T.,
Rosenthal, Y., Seitzinger, S., Smetacek, V., Steffen, W., 2000. The global carbon
cycle: a test of our knowledge of Earth as a system. Science 290, 291296.
Fyfe, W.S., 1996. Needed new technologies for sustainable development: the role of the
earth sciences. International Geological Congress Resumes 30 (1), 57.
Gennadiyev, A.N., 2001. Soil formation stages in relation to ecosystem development.
Eurasian Soil Science 34 (Suppl. 1), 513520.
Groisman, P.Y., Bartalev, S.A., 2007. Northern Eurasia earth science partnership initiative
(NEESPI), science plan overview. Global and Planetary Change 56, 215234.
Gruber, N., Galloway, J.N., 2008. An earth-system perspective of the global nitrogen
cycle. Nature 451, 293296.
Gundersen, L.C., 2008. Answers to Earth System Science Questions; the Evolution of
Informatics at the U.S. Geological Survey. In: Brady, S.R., Sinha, A.K., Gundersen, L.C.
(Eds.), Geoinformatics 2008Data to Knowledge, Proceedings: U.S. Geological
Survey Scientic Investigations Report 2008-5172, pp. 23. also available online at
http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5172.
Hartmann, D.L., 1994. Global Physical Climatology. Academic Press, New York.
Hoosbeek, M.R., Bryant, R.B., 1992. Towards quantitative modeling of pedogenesisa
review. Geoderma 55, 183210.
Huggett, R.J., 1975. Soil landscape systems: a model of soil genesis. Geoderma 13, 122.
Huggett, R.J., 1995. Geoecology. Routledge, London.
Huntington, T.G., 2006. Evidence for intensication of the global water cycle; review
and synthesis. Journal of Hydrology 319, 8395.
Ibez, J.J., Ruiz Ramos, M., Zinck, J.A., Br, A., 2005. Classical pedology questioned and
defended. Eurasian Soil Sci. 38, 575580.
Jacobson, M., Charlson, R.J., Rohde, H., Orions, G.H., 2009. Earth System Science: From
Biogeochemical Cycles to Global Changes. International Geophysics Series, 72.
Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
Janzen, H.H., 2004. Carbon cycling in Earth systemsa soil science perspective.
Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environ. 104, 399417.
Jenny, H., 1941. Factors of Soil Formation: A System of Quantitative Pedology. McGraw
Hill, New York.
Jenny, H., 1961. Derivation of state factor equations of soils and ecosystems. Soil Science
Society of America Proceedings 25, 385388.
Johnson, D.L., Keller, E.A., Rockwell, T.K., 1990. Dynamic pedogenesis: new views on
some key concepts, and a model for interpreting Quaternary soils. Quaternary
Research 33, 306319.
Johnson, D.L., Watson-Stegner, D., 1987. Evolution model of pedogenesis. Soil Science
143, 349366.
Johnson, D.R., 2006. Earth System Science: a model for teaching science as state, process
and understanding? Journal of Geoscience Education 54, 202207.
Johnston, R., 2006. Geography (or geographers) and Earth system science. Geoforum
37, 711.
Kline, J.R., 1973. Mathematical simulation of soilplant relationships and soil genesis.
Soil Science 115, 240249.
Koster, R.D., Dirmeyer, P.A., Guo, Z., et al., 2004. Regions of strong coupling between soil
moisture and precipitation. Science 305, 11381140.
Lal, R., 2001. Soils and the greenhouse effect. In: Lal, R. (Ed.), Soil Carbon Sequestration
and the Greenhouse Effect: Soil Sci. Society of America Special Publication, 57,
pp. 18.
Lal, R., 2004. Soil carbon sequestration impacts on global climate change and food
security. Science 304, 16231627.
Lenton, T.M., 2003. Land and ocean carbon cycle feedback effects on global warming in a
simple Earth system model. Tellus B52, 11591188.
Li, C., Frolking, S., Butterbach-Bahl, K., 2005. Carbon sequestration in arable soils is likely
to increase nitrous oxide emissions, offsetting reductions in climate radiative
forcing. Climatic Change 72, 321338.
Lin, H.S., Bouma, J., Wilding, L., Richardson, J., Kutilek, M., Nielsen, D., 2005. Advances in
hydropedology. Advances in Agronomy 85, 189.
251
Liverman, D.M., Cuesta, R.M.M., 2008. Human interactions with the earth system; people
and pixels revisited. Earth System Processes and Landforms 33 (1458), 1471.
Liverman, D.M., Hanson, M.E., Brown, B.J., Merideth Jr., R.W., 1988. Global sustainabil-
ity: toward measurement. Environmental Management 12, 133143.
McCabe, M.F., Wood, E.F., Wjcik, R., Pan, M., Shefeld, J., Gao, H., Su, H., 2008.
Hydrological consistency using multi-sensor remote sensing data for water and
energy cycle studies. Remote Sensing of Environment 112, 430444.
Minasny, B., McBratney, A.B., Salvador-Blanes, S., 2008. Quantitative models for
pedogenesisa review. Geoderma 144, 140157.
National Academy of Sciences, 2010. Landscapes on the Edge: New Horizons for
Research on Earth's Surface. Committee on Challenges and Opportunities in Earth
Surface Processes. http://nap.edu/catalog/12700.html.
Nikiforoff, C.C., 1959. Reappraisal of the soil. Science 129, 186196.
Nikitin, E.D., 2001. Soil as a bio-abiotic polyfunctional system. Eurasian Soil Science 34
(Suppl. 1), S6S12.
Park, S.J., McSweeney, K., Lowery, B., 2001. Identication of the spatial distribution of
soils using a process-based terrain characterization. Geoderma 103, 249272.
Paton, T.R., Humphreys, G.S., Mitchell, P.B., 1996. Soils: A New Global View. UCL Press, London.
Peixoto, J.P., Oort, A.H., 1991. Physics of Climate. Springer Verlag, New York.
Phillips, J.D., 1989. An evaluation of the state factor model of soil ecosystems. Ecol.
Model. 45, 165177.
Phillips, J.D., 1998. On the relations between complex systems and the factorial model
of soil formation (with discussion). Geoderma 86, 121.
Phillips, J.D., 1999. Earth Surface Systems: Complexity, Order, and Scale. Blackwell
Publishers, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Phillips, J.D., 2009. Soils as extended composite phenotypes. Geoderma 149, 143151.
Rankey, E.G., Ruzek, R., 2006. Symphony of the spheres: perspectives on Earth System
Science education. Journal of Geoscience Education 54, 197201.
Rice, S.P., Macklin, M.G., 2008. Geomorphology and Earth System Science: a reection.
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 33, 21182120. doi:10.1002/esp. 171.
Richards, K., Clifford, N., 2008. Science, systems and geomorphologies: why LESS may
be more. Earth Surf. Proc. & Landforms 33, 13231340.
Richter Jr., D.D., 2007. Humanity's transformation of Earth's soil: pedology's new
frontier. Soil Science 172, 957967.
Rockwell, T.K., 2000. Use of Soil Geomorphology in Fault Studies. Quaternary
Geochronology: Methods and Applications. Am. Geophys. Union, Washington, D.
C, pp. 273292.
Rosset, M., Montani, M., Tanner, M., Fuhrer, J., 2001. Effects of abandonment on the
energy balance and evapotranspiration of wet subalpine grassland. Agriculture,
Ecosystems & Environment 86, 277286.
Rouse, W.R., 2000. The energy and water balance of high-latitude wetlands: controls
and extrapolation. Global Change Biology 6 (Suppl. 1), 5968.
Ruhe, R.V., 1969. Quaternary Landscapes in Iowa. Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames.
Runge, E.C.A., 1973. Soil development sequences and energy models. Soil Science 115,
183193.
Savenko, V.S., 2001. Global hydrological cycle and geochemical balance of phosphorus
in the ocean. Oceanology 41, 360366.
Schaetzl, R., Anderson, S., 2005. Soils: Genesis and Geomorphology. Cambridge
University Press, New York.
Schlesinger, W.H., 1997. Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change, 2nd Ed.
Academic Press, Boston.
Sellers, P.J., Dickinson, R.E., Randall, D.A., et al., 1997. Modeling the exchanges of
energy, water, and carbon between continents and the atmosphere. Science 275,
502509.
Shaw, C.F., 1930. Potent factors in soil formation. Ecology 11, 239245.
Shmal'gauzen, I.I., 1988. The Origin of Terrestrial Vertebrates. Academic Press, New York.
Simonson, R.W., 1959. Outline of a generalized theory of soil genesis. Soil Science
Society of America Proceedings 23, 152156.
Smeck, N.E., Runge, E.C.A., Mackintosh, E.E., 1983. Dynamics and genetic modeling of
soil systems. In: Wilding, L.P., et al. (Ed.), Pedogenesis and Soil Taxonomy. Elsevier,
New York, pp. 5181.
Sderlund, R., Svensson, B.H., 1976. The global nitrogen cycle. In: Svensson, B.H.,
Sderlund, R. (Eds.), Nitrogen, Phosphorus and SulphurGlobal Cycles, SCOPE
Report No. 7: Ecol. Bull. (Stockholm), 22, pp. 2373.
Street-Perrot, F.A., Barker, P.A., 2008. Biogenic silica: a neglected component of the
coupled global continental biogeochemical cycles of carbon and silicon. Earth
Surface Processes and Landforms 33, 14361457.
Targulian, V.O., Sokolova, T.A., 1996. Soil as a biotic/abiotic natural system: a reactor,
memory and regulator of biospheric interactions. Eurasian Soil Sci. 29, 3041.
Vernadskii, V.I., 1998. The Biosphere. Springer Verlag, New York.
Werner, B.T., 1999. Complexity in natural landform patterns. Science 284, 102104.
Wilding, L.P., 1994. Factors of Soil Formation: Contributions to Pedology. Factors of Soil
Formation: a Fiftieth Anniversary Retrospective. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Spec. Publ. No. 33,
Madison, WI, pp. 1530.
Wilding, L.P., Lin, H., 2006. Advancing the frontiers of soil science towards a geoscience.
Geoderma 131, 257274.
Wu, J., David, J.L., 2002. A spatially explicit hierarchical approach to modeling complex
ecological systems: theory and applications. Ecological Modelling 153 (7), 26.
Yaalon, D.H., 1960. Some Implications of Fundamental Concepts of Pedology in Soil
Classication. 7th International Congress of Soil Science, Madison, Wisconsin, 5,
pp. 119121.
Yaalon, D.H., 1975. Conceptual models in pedogenesis: can soil-forming equations be
solved? Geoderma 14, 189205.
Yamanaka, T., Kaihotsu, I., Oyunbaatar, D., Ganbold, T., 2007. Summertime soil
hydrological cycle and surface energy balance on the Mongolian steppe. Journal
of Arid Environments 69, 6579.