Abstract: With the support of GIS and by using classical statistics and geostatistics methods, the spatial variability of soil available P (AP) and available K (AK) in cultivated lands in Yucheng City of Shandong Province was approached at county and township scales. The results showed that both the soil AP and AK followed the logarithmic normal distribution, with the coefficient of variation (CV) at the two scales being 26.5%-36.6% and presenting a moderate variation. With the decrease of the scale, the CV of the soil AP and AK increased. Both the soil AP and AK were spatially correlated with scale. At county scale, the soil AP and AK had a larger spatial correlation distance, being 9.0 km and 26.5 km, respectively; while at township scale, the soil AP and AK had a smaller spatial correlation distance, being 1.7 km and 2.8 km, respectively. The spatial distribution of the soil AP and AK at the two scales was obviously different, which was mainly affected by structural factors and random factors.

Key words: soil, spatial variability, scale-dependency, available nutrient