Volkoff Boris auteur aut IRD de Castro Mello F. F. auteur aut IRD Ferreira Maia S. M. auteur aut IRD Pellegrino Cerri C. E. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Soils of a large tropical area with differentiated landscapes cannot be treated uniformly for ecological applications. We intend to develop a framework based on physiography that can be used in regional applications. The study region occupies more than 1.1 million km(2) and is located at the junction of the savanna region of Central Brazil and the Amazon forest. It includes a portion of the high sedimentary Central Brazil plateau and large areas of mostly peneplained crystalline shield on the border of the wide inner-Amazon low sedimentary plain. A first broad subdivision was made into landscape regions followed by a more detailed subdivision into soil regions. Mapping information was extracted from soil survey maps at scales of 1:250000-1:500000. Soil units were integrated within a homogenized legend using a set of selected attributes such as taxonomic term, the texture of the B horizon and the associated vegetation. For each region, a detailed inventory of the soil units with their area distribution was elaborated. Ten landscape regions and twenty-four soil regions were recognized and delineated. Soil cover of a region is normally characterized by a cluster composed of many soil units. Soil diversity is comparable in the landscape and the soil regions. Composition of the soil cover is quantitatively expressed in terms of area extension of the soil units. Such geographic divisions characterized by grouping soil units and their spatial estimates must be used for regional ecological applications. specialized Brazil Rondonia Mato Grosso regional soil diversity 068 69 3 217-225 2012 0103-9016 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010055708 0103-9016 [F B010055708] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010055708 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2012/04/010055708.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2012-05-04 2017-08-23 fdi:010055708 fre