Preface
Aotearoa/New Zealand is a unique archipelago surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and Tasman
Sea. Soils in New Zealand are diverse—a reflection of the country’s oceanic setting and varied
geology, topography, climate, vegetation, and land surface ages. The landscape, ecology, and
soils have evolved in isolation with the first humans arriving from eastern Polynesia only
about 750 years ago. Following arrival of European settlers in the nineteenth century there was
a rapid transformation as agriculture was established with accompanying large-scale changes
to the flora and fauna and thus also to soils and ecosystems.
Recognising the unique assemblage of soils in New Zealand, the soil science community
saw a need to develop a modern, well defined, New Zealand-specific, soil classification. The
resultant New Zealand Soil Classification was first published in 1992 with a third edition in
2010. Although the New Zealand Soil Classification has been widely used by soil scientists,
there has been demand for a more accessible book that gives the wider community a clear
understanding of our, now well-established, soil orders as well as an appreciation of the
important properties and features of New Zealand soils.
It is our intention that this book will help people understand the diversity, importance, and
intrinsic beauty of New Zealand’s valuable soil resource in the context of the New Zealand
Soil Classification. It should be of interest to anyone with an involvement in the whenua/land,
including students, farmers and growers, land managers, environmental planners, gardeners,
and those who simply want to better appreciate the soils and landscapes. Knowledge of the soil
resource and its environment, from the scale of the individual farm paddock to the wider
landscape, is essential to support sustainable soil and land management.
The book is the first dealing specifically with New Zealand’s soils and landscapes for more
than 30 years and hence brings a wealth of new information and understanding. We nevertheless acknowledge earlier national-extent compilations: a three-part book, Soils of New
Zealand, was published by Soil Bureau of the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research in 1968; a short text entitled New Zealand Soils—an Introduction, written by Harry
Gibbs, was published in 1980; and the outstanding book, Soils in the New Zealand Landscape,
written by Les Molloy and illustrated with photographs by Quenton Christie, was published in
1988 (a second printing, which included a new appendix on the New Zealand Soil Classification, was published in 1993).
There is a need for all New Zealanders to have a sense of the importance of the
whenua/land on which they live and the need for kaitiakitanga/stewardship of our soils so that
the soil can sustainably support future generations for millennia to come. We hope this book
will contribute to that shared knowledge and understanding.
Lincoln, New Zealand
Allan E. Hewitt
Hamilton, New Zealand
Megan R. Balks
Hamilton, New Zealand
David J. Lowe
September 2020
v
Aotearoa/New Zealand is a unique archipelago surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and Tasman
Sea. Soils in New Zealand are diverse—a reflection of the country’s oceanic setting and varied
geology, topography, climate, vegetation, and land surface ages. The landscape, ecology, and
soils have evolved in isolation with the first humans arriving from eastern Polynesia only
about 750 years ago. Following arrival of European settlers in the nineteenth century there was
a rapid transformation as agriculture was established with accompanying large-scale changes
to the flora and fauna and thus also to soils and ecosystems.
Recognising the unique assemblage of soils in New Zealand, the soil science community
saw a need to develop a modern, well defined, New Zealand-specific, soil classification. The
resultant New Zealand Soil Classification was first published in 1992 with a third edition in
2010. Although the New Zealand Soil Classification has been widely used by soil scientists,
there has been demand for a more accessible book that gives the wider community a clear
understanding of our, now well-established, soil orders as well as an appreciation of the
important properties and features of New Zealand soils.
It is our intention that this book will help people understand the diversity, importance, and
intrinsic beauty of New Zealand’s valuable soil resource in the context of the New Zealand
Soil Classification. It should be of interest to anyone with an involvement in the whenua/land,
including students, farmers and growers, land managers, environmental planners, gardeners,
and those who simply want to better appreciate the soils and landscapes. Knowledge of the soil
resource and its environment, from the scale of the individual farm paddock to the wider
landscape, is essential to support sustainable soil and land management.
The book is the first dealing specifically with New Zealand’s soils and landscapes for more
than 30 years and hence brings a wealth of new information and understanding. We nevertheless acknowledge earlier national-extent compilations: a three-part book, Soils of New
Zealand, was published by Soil Bureau of the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research in 1968; a short text entitled New Zealand Soils—an Introduction, written by Harry
Gibbs, was published in 1980; and the outstanding book, Soils in the New Zealand Landscape,
written by Les Molloy and illustrated with photographs by Quenton Christie, was published in
1988 (a second printing, which included a new appendix on the New Zealand Soil Classification, was published in 1993).
There is a need for all New Zealanders to have a sense of the importance of the
whenua/land on which they live and the need for kaitiakitanga/stewardship of our soils so that
the soil can sustainably support future generations for millennia to come. We hope this book
will contribute to that shared knowledge and understanding.
Lincoln, New Zealand
Allan E. Hewitt
Hamilton, New Zealand
Megan R. Balks
Hamilton, New Zealand
David J. Lowe
September 2020
v