ABSTRACT This paper reviews recent developments in studies of soil complexity, focusing on the variability of soil types within soil landscapes. Changes in soil complexity are directly related to divergent and convergent pedogenesis and to dynamical stability and chaos. Accordingly, strong links exist between nonlinear dynamical systems theory and studies of soil complexity. Traditional conceptual models of soil formation emphasized convergence of the soil cover in the form of progress toward mature, climax soils. A view of divergence as a frequent occurrence rather than an occasional exception is more recent. Measurement of soil complexity is now firmly linked to field pedology. In addition to strong methodological links to pedometrics and soil geography, standard tools for assessing complexity include chronosequences and other historical approaches, relationships between soil properties and soil forming factors, and pedological indicators. Eight general pathways to changes in soil complexity are identified. Three are based on changes in soil-forming factors. These may increase or decrease complexity depending on whether the factors themselves are converging or diverging and the relative magnitudes of soil and state factor divergence. Three pathways are associated with local disturbances. If these occur less frequently than the relaxation time for soil responses, and if internal pedological dynamics are dynamically stable, then disturbance-induced complexity is reduced over time. Otherwise, divergence and increasing complexity occurs. Two additional pathways are directly related to dynamical stability of intrinsic pedological processes, which may result in decreasing or increasing complexity, either in concert with, or independently of, environmental controls or disturbances.

中文翻译：

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土壤复杂性和成土作用

摘要 本文回顾了土壤复杂性研究的最新进展，重点关注土壤景观中土壤类型的可变性。土壤复杂性的变化与发散和收敛的成土作用以及动态稳定性和混乱直接相关。因此，非线性动力系统理论与土壤复杂性研究之间存在密切联系。土壤形成的传统概念模型强调土壤覆盖以向成熟、高潮土壤发展的形式收敛。将背离视为频繁发生而不是偶然例外的观点是最近出现的。土壤复杂性的测量现在与田间土壤学密切相关。除了与计步学和土壤地理学的强大方法论联系之外，评估复杂性的标准工具包括时间序列和其他历史方法、土壤特性与土壤形成因素之间的关系以及土壤学指标。确定了土壤复杂性变化的八种一般途径。三是基于成土因素的变化。这些可能会增加或减少复杂性，具体取决于因素本身是收敛还是发散以及土壤和状态因素发散的相对大小。三种途径与局部干扰有关。如果这些发生的频率低于土壤响应的弛豫时间，并且如果内部土壤动力学动态稳定，则干扰引起的复杂性会随着时间的推移而降低。否则，就会出现分歧和日益增加的复杂性。