Soil of New Zealand

The soil in New Zealand is different and varied. There are around 1,700 to 1,800 different soil series. Each series has up to six individual soil types. This may seem like a lot for one place to have but when you take into account how many there are in the world it makes sense. The soil of a tropical area will not be the same as a cooler or drier area obviously.

The North Island is where one will find most of the red-brown and yellow-brown volcanic loams. Of course the soil is generally mixed and not always easy to classify. Loamy soil is quite useful for agriculture because of the organic matter and other particles within the soil itself.

On the South island yellow-gray and yellow-brown soils are predominate. This soil is also generally acceptable for farming and thus farming can take place on both the islands because of the rich soils found on each.

There are two different systems in New Zealand for classifying soil. One system is more scientific in it's terms and are based on the soils development, the other system is more image based and goes off how the soil looks instead of it's developmental process. The most common soils found in New Zealand are brown, and semi-arid. Rainfall has a major effect on the soil and can shift and move the soil into new areas at any given time. Areas with different levels of precipitation are going to have different soil types, dampness can really effect the types of soil.