Biogeochemistry of Kalahari sands

The Kalahari sand sheet, with a 2.5-million ha area, is probably the largest continuous surface of sand in the world. The Kalahari Transect (KT) is one of a set of IGBP “megatransects” identified for global change studies and provides an ideal setting to investigate changes in ecosystem dynamics, vegetation composition and structure, and carbon or nutrient cycles along a spatial precipitation gradient without confounding soil effects. Soil physical properties remain poorly characterized along the KT. The present work provides a review of previous studies on the Kalahari soils combined with new results from recent analyses of physical (mostly hydraulic) and biogeochemical properties of the soil. In summary, the Kalahari soil is acidic, dominated by sand and nutrient poor. Nutrient contents, soil textures and soil hydraulic properties differ under and between canopies. Roots are concentrated in the top 80 cm of the soil, with grass roots more abundant and dominant close to the surface. Moreover, the distribution of tree roots does not exhibit a clear dominance over grasses at deeper soil layers. This review provides important baseline information for this system, as well as insights as to how biochemical processes vary along a rainfall gradient.