Pedodiversity, Biodiversity, and Soil Endemism in India

Abstract

Pedodiversity (soil diversity) refers to the diversity within the pedoenvironment. Pedodiversity is a measure of soil variation linked with edaphology and other soil ecosystem services, including biodiversity and soil endemism. Unlike other countries, pedodiversity and its quantitative study drawn little attention in India. Results showed that Shannon's diversity index increases as the soil taxonomic category changes from soil order to soil family across different zones in India. More values of Shannon's diversity index at the soil family level were due to increased taxa richness. The pedodiversity index and area relationship indicated higher values for south Indian states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Variation of soil was well pronounced in the hilly areas compared to the plains in India due to the large variety of soil-forming factors in the hills. Taxa similarity between the zones decreased as taxonomic levels changed from soil order to soil family. At the state level, nearly seven states indicated < 0.5 taxa similarity suggesting distinctly different taxa in these states in the soil family category. Soils are unique in India, with an estimated value of ~52% area, with rare soils covering about ~2 % area indicating soil endemism in India. This might assist administrators in conserving and preserving soil resources and decide appropriate land use planning. The quantified values of pedodiversity helped generate various theme maps on different pedodiversity parameters to develop first-hand information on the pedodiversity of Indian soils at the state level. Few studies have considered pedodiversity as a basis for regional biodiversity. The database generated for Indian soils in this paper may be helpful in developing a model understanding of regional pedodiversity and biodiversity for the tropical soils in the world.