Geostatistical analysis of pedodiversity in Taihang Mountain region in North China

The protection of pedodiversity is very important for biodiversity maintenance and food production. However, where and how large should the protection focus on in a given region (especially in mountain regions with complex environment) remains unclear. In this study, geostatistical analysis was used to study pedodiversity indexes (Shannon's index, the maximum Shannon's index, Richness index and Evenness index) in Taihang Mountain region in North China. Then pedodiversity protection and buffer zones were designed. Moreover, the relationship between protection zone and human activities was determined. The results showed that average Shannon's index for the study area was 1.72, with two lower value zones appeared in the north and the south of Taihang Mountain region, respectively. This suggested that there was the need to enhance the protection of pedodiversity in the two regions. The ranges of the Richness index and the Shannon's index were respectively 57.16 km and 96.00 km, indicating that pedodiversity had spatial dependence within these distances. Therefore, protection zones with radius of 57.16 km and buffer zones with radius of 96 km was designed. For both the northern and southern protection zones, the percent area of population density lower than 1 person/km2 (35.27% for the north and 51.71% for the south) was much higher than the average value (27.91%) of Taihang Mountain region. Furthermore, the percent area of farmland (43.72% for the north and 40.48% for the south) were higher than the average value (35.92%). This demonstrated that human activity, especially farming, was a key consideration in the protection of pedodiversity in the study region. The results of the study constitute a significant contribution to the theory of pedodiversity protection and soil resources management.