Soil quality: A new idea that includes an old one

Excerpt

In his approach to landscape evaluation discussed in A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold advocated a fundamental concept that is very similar to the ideas now being discussed as soil quality. Leopold usefully evaluated the condition of the land by the kind and amount of a particular plant or animal species that he found there. This study included existing conditions and a comparison with similar environments. His assessments differed significantly from traditional methods of rating soil. Leopold accounted for a number of factors and considered the total impact of practices on the environment. He focused on ecological factors rather than strictly economic considerations. Soil quality is much the same, considering a variety of properties and indicators of soil condition. This approach differs from some of the more commonly used measures of soil, such as fertility or crop productivity.

…we should consider the whole environment …