Bioengineering of soil profiles in semiarid ecosystems of south-western Australia: Influence on patterning of landscapes

Abstract

New insights into biological functions of roots casts doubt on many entrenched abiotic theories on soil formation- to the extent that understanding processes in the Rhizosphere is now increasingly cited as the new frontier of regolith science. Critical field observations and information drawn from a number of disciplines suggests that many pedogenic processes are causally related to niche-building activities of higher plants. This paper examines some edaphic features and associated formative effects of competing plant communities in semiarid settings of south-western Australia and presents evidence that bioengineering by higher plants and their associates influences the landforms of their habitat as well as the trajectory of their own evolution. Examples given relate to patterns of chemical variation visible in radiometric imagery of uplands, and what appear to be biotic responses to stripping and head ward incision.