Abstract

The concept of diversity has been widely used in ecological studies, although mainly for the bioticcomponent (biodiversity). Regrettably, the effects of abiotic structures (e.g. soils) on the biotic com-ponents of ecosystems, landscapes and biomes are still a matter of discussion. We examined thesimilarity and differences in spatial and temporal patterns between biodiversity and pedodiversity.This comparative study was possible because of the increased availability of digital data on soilsand other natural resources at various scales for pedodiversity analysis using the same theoreticalconcepts and tools applied by ecologists for biodiversity analyses. Remarkably, the spatial patternsof pedogeographic units detected by pedologists are similar to those reported by biologists for aplethora of ecosystems.