RA3 THESIS: Soil carbon modelling

Relationships between landscape and soil characteristics in a diseased kauri forest – soil carbon modelling case study from Waitākere Ranges Regional Park, New Zealand

June 2023

McElvein A. 2023. Relationships between landscape and soil characteristics in a diseased kauri forest – soil carbon modelling case study from Waitākere Ranges Regional Park, New Zealand. Unpublished Masterate thesis, University of Auckland.

ABSTRACT

This research aimed to investigate the geospatial distribution and drivers of soil characteristics in diseased kauri forests, using samples from Waitākere Ranges Regional Park.

Measurements included various soil characteristics, such as carbon, nitrogen, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, pH, and bulk density, and considered 31 environmental variables, including tree-related factors, distance from important features, remote sensing imagery indices, topography, and observation location. The analysis revealed significant correlations between soil characteristics and tree-related variables, with soil carbon showing strong connections with variables from all categories.