Document: MAR-3-58-13

Soil characteristics along an urban-rural gradient: What are the most telling soil indicators of urban activity?

ANN VINTON, M.* 1, R.HOUSE 1 and M.ELSON 2

Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178 USA 1
AgroPlus Consulting, Omaha, NE 68178 USA 2

Abstract:
Urban soils reflect the concentrated human activity inherent in metropolitan areas and likely differ from rural counterparts in compaction, profile disturbance, pollutants, and soil biota. Certain soil constituents may serve as a signal of human and industrial activity; for example, zinc is a common product of many industrial processes and can be deposited downwind from such activity. We compared a suite of organic and inorganic soil nutrients between urban sites and nearby agricultural soils around Omaha, Nebraska. Soil samples were collected and analyzed for pH, organic matter, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, boron, iron, manganese, copper and aluminum. The organic matter, pH and sodium were higher on the urban sites. In addition, the urban sites had 23X higher zinc levels and doubled copper levels compared to the rural sites. The results indicate that some soil characteristics, particularly zinc, copper, pH and sodium, were useful as spatial and temporal integrators of industrial activity in metropolitan areas.

Keywords: soils, urban ecology, zinc, sodium

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This abstract is being presented at: 10:30 AM in session:
Poster Session #5: Landscape Ecology.