Variability of soil properties in a landscape ecological survey in the Tuscan Apennines,Italy

The aim of this study is to test a landscape-ecological classification developed for surveys which make use of aerial photographs. This classification is based on relief, parent material and vegetation but leaves out soil properties which are important in landscape ecology. For this purpose, the variability of 11 surface soil characteristics is studied in selected plots of 2 × 3m, along a transect in an area of dissected fluvio-lacustrine deposits near Florence, Italy. It appears that much more than the 5 observations which were made in each plot are needed to establish reasonably accurate estimates of the mean of the variables.By means of a non-parametric test it is demonstrated that the adopted landscape-ecological classification is suitable for further surveying. This test is based on a comparison of all sample combinations for each variable, and for the variables combined per mapping unit. A discriminant function analysis confirms the results of this test.