Soil quality: to regulate or to manage?

Calidad del Suelo- ¿Para Regular o Manejar?

Price, Graham H. and Smethurst, P.J. and Sparrow, L.A. and Sojka, R.E. (2004) Soil quality: to regulate or to manage? pp. 938-942. In: Proc. International Soil Tillage Research Organisation 16th Triennial Conf. Soil Management for Sustainability. Australia-Brisbane, 2003/07/13-18.

	PDF 1128.pdf Download (1MB)
	PDF ES_1128.pdf Download (69kB)

Abstract

The concept of soil quality was conceived in the early 1990s as a parallel to those of air
and water quality in response to concerns about soil 'health,' sustainability and environmentally
`friendly' crop production. The concept has the potential to be used by researchers to link soil
research issues to broader environmental issues when applying for funds.
However, unlike air and water, soils have no defined 'pure' state against which measures can be taken
and comparisons made. The physical, chemical and biological composition of soils varies widely and
no single attribute or soil type can be established as a standard. The choice of appropriate soil
properties and their standards depends on the use to which the soil is put.
We suggest concentrating on quality management of the soil, rather than managing generically-chosen
soil properties, collectively called soil 'quality'. Quality management puts the onus on managers to
use the technical tools that are readily available to manage soils and landscapes, and on scientists to
develop new tools.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
NWISRL Publication Number:	1128
Subjects:	Soil > Soil quality Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:56
Last Modified:	03 Nov 2016 16:18
Item ID:	949
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/949