Ecological Land Classification of Mount Revelstoke and Glacie r ...

CHAPTER II - SOILSW .S. Taylor, B .D .Walker and D .T. AllanINTRODUCTIO NSoil formation is a function of five environmental factors : climate, living organisms, topography ,parent material, and time (Buol et al. 1973) . Because these factors vary across the landscape, soilforms a continuum with varying properties . The intent of soil classification is to organize soil variabilityin a meaningful way. Ideally, each category is defined by criteria which are observable or measurablein the soil profile. Each classification system has certain objectives and the established criteriareflect the knowledge of the soils being classified (C .S .S .C . 1978a) . The Canadian system(C .S .S .C . 1978a) was used in MRNP and GNP . The taxa are based more on properties thought t oreflect genesis than on interpretations of properties for various uses .Soil taxa are convenient in ecological land classification because they summarize information on boththe properties and environment of the pedons . Taxa also facilitate the description of map units, al -though mapping necessitates a different type of generalization than taxonomy . Map units are designedto group landscape and soil patterns . These map units are described in terms of taxa . Thus amap unit represents a predictable spatial pattern of soil taxa which are related along pedogenic gradients,e.g. soils along a seepage slope may be in different taxa but are related along wetness, stability,organic matter, and geomorphic gradients . Thus, the limits of a map unit concept are broade rthan those of a soil taxon . The degree of generalization depends on soil complexity and predictability ,and on mapping scale .Much of the information available on soils near MRNP and GNP is about their distribution . Wittneben(1980) mapped soils of the Columbia Mountains in the Lardeau NTS area to the south, and Kowall(1980) surveyed the Seymour Arm sheet which includes the western portion of MRNP, both a t1 :100,000 scale . Knapik and Coen (1974) conducted a detailed survey (1 :6,000) of the Mount Revel -stoke summit area .Sneddon et al. (1972a, 1972b) investigated the genesis of several soils in the Alpine in British Columbia.McKeague and Sprout (1975) studied profiles with cemented subsoils, including some from th eColumbia forest and Interior subalpine of British Columbia .METHODS OF SOIL DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSI SFIELD DESCRIPTION METHOD SSoil and site data, including geomorphic information, were collected as part of this multidisciplinary ,ecological land inventory . Field crews, usually consisting of soils, vegetation, and wildlife specialists ,collected data at each site . Pedon and site data as suggested by Day et al. (1975) were recorded o nCanadian Soil Information System (CanSIS) computer coding forms (Dumanski et al. 1975, C .S .S .C .1978b) developed from the CanSIS Detail Form (Field Description Input Document) . Thirty-sevenpedons representing various soils, Ecosites, and Ecosections were described in detail on the CanSI SDetail Form and analyzed in the laboratory .LABORATORY METHODSChemical and physical analyses were done following air drying and grinding according to the routin eprocedures used by the Alberta Institute of Pedology (C.S.S.C. 1978c) . Results were entered on aCanSIS Detail Form (Methods and Analytical Data) for each pedon . The routine procedures involveddetermination of :25