The Infona portal uses cookies, i.e. strings of text saved by a browser on the user's device. The portal can access those files and use them to remember the user's data, such as their chosen settings (screen view, interface language, etc.), or their login data. By using the Infona portal the user accepts automatic saving and using this information for portal operation purposes. More information on the subject can be found in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. By closing this window the user confirms that they have read the information on cookie usage, and they accept the privacy policy and the way cookies are used by the portal. You can change the cookie settings in your browser.
Soil quality is one of the most important factors in sustaining the global biosphere and developing sustainable agricultural practices. It has been defined in several different ways in recent years from view points of bioproductivity, sustainability, environmental protection, and human and animal health. In this paper, soil quality refers to its capacity to meet the need of plant growth. Land use...
We present a means to recover information about soil quality trends from data sets, such as those from long-term crop experiments, in which time series of direct measures of soil properties may be unavailable. The first objective of the paper is to develop a method to recover information about the evolution of soil quality attributes from a limited range of data. The second objective is empirical:...
Although the science of soil was established about 150 years ago with the modern soil science taking off after the Second World War, the new Millennium has brought other challenges and new opportunities. Rapidly increasing population in countries that can least afford it have made them food-insecure. With inadequate inputs in agriculture, developing countries are degrading their lands rapidly and...
This research explores the commonalities and differences between local farmers' understanding of soil quality in a small catchment in central Honduras and that of a US soil scientist. The authors investigated the ways in which the local farmers categorized and managed soils and land uses. The US soil scientist also conducted independent measurements and analyses for varying indicators of soil quality...
The properties of soils may be characterized by many attributes. However, there is not a systematic procedure to objectively select the measurement parameters that may be used to assess soil quality. Following the data collection, it is often a dilemma to decide how many and which of the measured parameters should be included in the assessment as the outcomes may be influenced by the parameters included...
The soil quality concept evolved throughout the 1990s in response to increased global emphasis on sustainable land use and with a holistic focus emphasizing that sustainable soil management requires more than soil erosion control. The concept includes two areas of emphasis-education and assessment-both based soundly on principles of soil science. Soil quality test kits, farmer-based scorecards, visual...
Rapid methods for characterizing soil microbial communities are essential to assess responses to perturbations and to improved management practices. This study compared the composition of microbial communities in 47 agricultural soil and adjacent land use samples collected in the San Joaquin Valley, CA. Microbial communities were characterized by DNA fingerprinting of the Intergenic Transcribed Spacer...
Studies on the effect of land use alteration on the spatial variability of soil properties are limited. This study addressed the spatial and temporal variability of soil properties and changes of soil quality in a hill region of subtropical China using geostatistical methods. Soil samples from 0- to 15-cm depth were collected within 105 locations, on a 100x100 m grid basis over a 112-ha field, in...
Reports about the relationship between soil water retention and organic carbon content are contradictory. We hypothesized that this relationship is affected by both proportions of textural components and amount of organic carbon. To test the hypothesis, we used the U.S. National Soil Characterization database and the database from pilot studies on soil quality as affected by long-term management....
In volcanic regions, soils containing both noncrystalline materials and layer silicates are widespread. Although the respective contribution of these components to soil physical behaviours is difficult to quantify, it is an important issue in the Canary Islands, where Andisols and andic soils are transported to the low lands for cultivation (''sorriba''). In this new soil environment, salinisation...
The content and fractional composition of humus in soil exposed to conventional, shallow and minimum tillage for 40 years was investigated on Cambisols. Humus status depended on tillage methods and depth. In cultivated soil, conventional annual tillage can be replaced by shallow or minimum tillage, since this significantly increased soil humus content in the 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil layers. In both...
We report on an attempt to distinguish cropped from fallowed land and young from old fallow by the rate of decomposition of a standard material, to contribute towards the development of simple, yet reliable indicators of soil quality and agricultural sustainability on tropical soils. In three southern Cameroonian villages, Senna spectabilis leaves and wood were incubated in undisturbed bush fallow...
Species numbers and biomass of earthworms increased nearly continuously from the 3rd to the 46th year after recultivation, reaching 100 g m −2 at the oldest sites. This development is characterised by a decreasing proportion of epigeic life forms. In contrast to data from coniferous afforestations in Berzdorf mine sites and other mine sites studied in Lower Lusatia as well as from the literature,...
In many afforested reclamation sites as well as in commercial forests naturally settled shrubs or trees (“non-target species”; NTS) are cut down to improve the growth of the target trees (TT). In afforested oak plantations (Quercus robur) of the Rhineland (Germany) the NTS broom (Cytisus scoparius) and birch (Betula pendula) can occur in high densities during the first decades of succession. Hazel...
Soils of tropical forests are often inherently nutrient poor, although the extents of extremely infertile tropical forest soils are not as large as previous estimates may suggest. This paper presents findings from a study of change in soil quality in relation to deforestation and land use change in the highlands of Madagascar. A synthesis of some of the available research results related to soil characteristics...
Research data on soil quality are scarce in Madagascar, despite the island's widely recognized problems of soil and environmental degradation. One of the major constraints to properly assessing current status, trends and processes of soil degradation is the high level of costs involved when using conventional soil analytical methods. Previous studies have demonstrated that visible-near-infrared (Vis-NIR)...
The increasing attention paid to local soil knowledge results from a greater recognition that farmer knowledge can offer many insights into the sustainable management of tropical soils and that the integration of local and technical knowledge systems helps extension workers and scientists work more closely with farmers. A participatory approach and a methodological guide were developed to identify...
The addition of organic matter to soil is frequently viewed as a vital intervention to maintain soil quality. The aim of this study was to investigate the temporal response of the soil macroorganic fraction to different organic coffee farming practices (e.g., plant residue, earthworm and microbial inocula addition). Three density fractions of macroorganic matter (>150 μm) were studied during 1...
For millennia, land use in the Mediterranean region has led to situations in which soil has been severely degraded showing high risks of erosion and impoverishment. Thus, the establishment of soil quality indices is considered to be of crucial importance in determining the state of degradation and recovery of soils. Soils from stable forest ecosystems have specific physical, chemical and biological...
Multivariate data analysis techniques such as factor analysis are useful tools in soil quality assessment. In this study, the applicability of a new factor analysis model, positive matrix factorization (PMF), which produces strict non-negative factor loadings and scores, was evaluated. The dataset used was obtained from soil samples taken from a long-term reclaimed wastewater-irrigated cropland and...
Set the date range to filter the displayed results. You can set a starting date, ending date or both. You can enter the dates manually or choose them from the calendar.