The changing concept of soil quality

Excerpt

Soil quality concerns are not new, but each time we come to them we use a slightly different approach because our understanding of soils has increased and the questions that scientists and society ask have changed. Productivity and suitability for different beneficial uses of soil have been major themes in soil quality, but there are other approaches. It is useful to consider the changing concept of soil quality so we can put our present concerns in the context of the other ideas as we seek to reverse soil degradation and improve soil quality

Suitability for various beneficial uses is probably the oldest and one of the most frequently used concepts of soil quality. Often this concept is related to the quantity of crops produced, but it can also be related to quality. Soil health, as it determines human health, is expressed through crop quality. Because soil is a unique habitat for a wide diversity of biota, various biological parameters have been used in defining soil quality. A further refinement is to define soil quality in terms of the various functions that soils perform in ecosystems, such as recycling of nutrients, partitioning …