The Impact of Flood Frequency on the Heterogeneity of Floodplain Surface Soil Properties

Abstract

Floodplain soils are subject to quasi-periodic flood disturbances. This flooding serves to enrich floodplain soils, increasing their fertility and often making them ideal locations for agriculture. However, what is less well understood is how the frequency of flooding impacts on soil fertility and the diversity of soil character. This study investigates how flood frequency influences the heterogeneity (assessed using 26 physical and geochemical soil properties) of floodplain soils in a semi-arid floodplain wetland system in New South Wales, Australia. The study includes an investigation of soil properties across four flood frequency (or disturbance frequency) categories ranging from frequent through to infrequent flood disturbance. Thirty samples were collected from each zone and the physical and geochemical soil data were analyzed using a suite of univariate and multivariate statistical tests. The results show that sites subject to an intermediate level of flood disturbance have a greater level of diversity in soil properties than those sites subject to frequent flood disturbances. These results reflect those of the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, an ecological theory that posits the highest biological diversity will also be found in intermediately disturbed environments and suggests that there might be physical habitat drivers of biological diversity in intermediately disturbed floodplains.