Application of geostatistics and GIS technique to characterize spatial variabilities of bioavailable micronutrients in paddy soils

To understand the spatial dependency of bioavailable micronutrients in paddy soils, 134 soil samples were taken from Pinghu County, Zhejiang Province, south-east China to characterize the spatial variabilities of bioavailable Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn. The geostatistics and geographic information system (GIS) techniques were applied. Bioavailable Zn and Mn were fitted to an exponential model with a range of 4.4 km and 2.97 km, respectively. Bioavailable Fe was fitted to the linear model with the longest range of 23.48 km. Bioavailable Cu did not show any spatial correlation with the fitted pure nugget effect model. Bioavailable Zn and Mn had strong spatial dependence due to the effects of intrinsic factors such as parent material, relief and soil types. Bioavailable Fe had moderate spatial dependence over a long distance. The spatial distribution of the four bioavailable micronutrients were significantly correlated to the soil formation factors. Human activity, such as application of fertilizer and pesticide, emission of waste gas and industrial pollution also had significant effects on the spatial distributions of the bioavailable micronutrients.