This study investigated how the deposition of mineral dust delivered by the wind influences soil development in mountain environments. At six mountain locations in the southwestern United States, modern dust was collected along with samples of soil and local bedrock. Analysis indicates that at all sites the properties of dust and soil are very similar and are very different from underlying rock. This result indicates that soils are predominantly composed of dust delivered by the wind over time.

The present study addresses the soil information gap in tropical seagrass meadows. The different geological and bioclimatic settings caused a relevant soil diversity. Contrasting geochemical conditions promote different intensities of soil processes. Seagrass soils from the northeastern semiarid coast are marked by a more intense sulfidization. Understanding soil processes may help in the sustainable management of seagrasses.

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) stabilize the soil surface mainly in arid regions but are also present in Mediterranean and humid climates. We studied this stabilizing effect through wet and dry sieving along a large climatic gradient in Chile and found that the stabilization of soil aggregates persists in all climates, but their role is masked and reserved for a limited number of size fractions under humid conditions by higher vegetation and organic matter contents in the topsoil.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) and its labile fractions are influenced by soil use and mineral properties. These parameters interact with each other and affect SOC differently depending on local conditions. To investigate the latter, the dependence of SOC content on parameters that vary on a local scale depending on parent material, soil texture, and land use as well as parameter combinations was statistically assessed. Relevance and superiority of local models compared to total models were shown.

Studies on soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) in the Sudano-Sahelian part of Cameroon are very rare. Organic C storage decreases with increasing latitude and more than 60 % of the SOCS is stored below the first 25 cm depth. In addition, a good correlation is noted between precipitation which decreases with increasing latitude and the total SOCS, indicating the importance of climate in the distribution of the total SOCS in the study area, which directly influence the productivity of the vegetation.