Thermodynamic pedodiversity patterns reveal agroecosystem patterns in indigenous lands of the U.S. Southwest

Thermodynamic pedodiversity patterns reveal agroecosystem patterns in indigenous lands of the U.S. Southwest | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Thermodynamic pedodiversity patterns reveal agroecosystem patterns in indigenous lands of the U.S. Southwest Trevan Flynn This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9187606/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Soil heterogeneity strengthens food system resilience, yet its multidimensional structure remains poorly quantified at relevant spatial scales. Here we present a thermodynamically grounded pedodiversity index constrained by physical continuity. Across Indigenous agroecosystems of the U.S. Southwest, eight soil properties were transformed into exergy states using three-dimensional convolutions spanning space and depth under atmospheric forcing. Local inverse Moran’s I captured the scaling between variance and its spatial lag, defining thermodynamic pedodiversity. Sustained production aligned with structured spatial organization rather than pedodiversity magnitude alone. Hopi dryland systems coincided with highly organized patterns, whereas Navajo pastoral systems occurred in less organized landscapes. Pedodiversity alone does not explain soil resilience; higher-order spatial organization, interpreted alongside Indigenous knowledge, governs agroecosystem persistence. Integrating thermodynamics with Indigenous knowledge offers a pathway to infer soil multifunctionality across landscapes. Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Agroecology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Sustainability Scientific community and society/Agriculture Social science/Environmental studies Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Socioeconomic scenarios Exergy Indigenous knowledge Soil resilience Soil multifunctionality Quantitative pedology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9187606","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":628195117,"identity":"2f1ec43c-48a5-400d-8120-8eca4428e9f4","order_by":0,"name":"Trevan Flynn","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYPACORkgwfgASPDwEVLLA6GMQTSzAUiAjRQtbBIgJkEt9tKHj0n83GHAY3C791jl1xw7GTYG5oePbuCzhS8tTbL3DFDLnXNpt2W3JQMdxmZsnINPCw+PsQFv2x8egxs5ZrcltzEDtfCwSePXwv/Z8G+bAVhLseS2emK08DA+5oVqYfy47TARWs6wGT6WBWqRvJFjLM247TgPGzMBv7D3MD84+LbNQI7vRo7hx5/bqu352ZsfPsanBQ4UDgDjEhxLzMQoBwH5BmCK+UGs6lEwCkbBKBhRAAARLj4MnmTtpgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5187-9946","institution":"University of Fort Hare","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Trevan","middleName":"","lastName":"Flynn","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-21 18:40:11","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9187606/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9187606/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108492801,"identity":"620aef91-abf7-43f2-a6b7-1104af6e7918","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-05 09:58:39","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":614936,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9187606/v1_covered_b5cb743c-9351-49df-ab0e-0634440281fd.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Thermodynamic pedodiversity patterns reveal agroecosystem patterns in indigenous lands of the U.S. Southwest","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Exergy, Indigenous knowledge, Soil resilience, Soil multifunctionality, Quantitative pedology","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9187606/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9187606/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSoil heterogeneity strengthens food system resilience, yet its multidimensional structure remains poorly quantified at relevant spatial scales. 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