
CHAPTER 1
Pedodiversity State of the Art
and Future Challenges
Juan José Ibáñez,
1,
* Ronald Job Vargas
2
and
Antonio Vázquez-Hoehne
3
1. Introduction: The Dark Foundation of Many
Natural-resource Sciences
At fi rst, the notion of diversity seems clear and intuitive. However,
other terms have sometimes been used synonymously, such as variety,
heterogeneity, variability, complexity, etc. At the scientifi c level these
synonymous usages cause confusion and vagueness. Since the foundation
of natural-resource sciences, experts from different disciplines have
recognized the impressive global diversity surrounding them, regardless
of whether their interest ...