Amazonian Soils Mapped Using Indicator Species

Different fern species require different kinds of soil to grow, so their presence can be used to deduce site conditions. (Photo: Gabriela Zuquim)

Gabriela Zuquim identifying a fern in Amazonian rainforest. (Photo: Ricardo Braga Neto)

The Amazonian rainforest area is large and poorly known. (Photo: Gabriela Zuquim)

Understanding the ecology and distributions of species in Amazonia is hampered by lack of information about environmental conditions, such as soils. Plant occurrence data are typically more abundant than soil samples in poorly known areas, and researchers from Finland and Brazil have now developed a method that uses both plant and soil data to produce a map of soil properties.

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