TY - JOUR T1 - Can the soil conditioning index be successfully used for semiarid, hot, sandy soils? JF - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation SP - 155A LP - 155A VL - 62 IS - 6 AU - Ted. M. Zobeck Y1 - 2007/11/01 UR - http://www.jswconline.org/content/62/6/155A.abstract N2 - The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service has proposed the Soil Conditioning Index (SCI) to predict the consequences of management actions on the state of soil organic carbon, a soil quality indicator. The index was developed based on research in humid, temperate, loamy soils but has not been tested for many other conditions. Considerable uncertainty still exists in the application of the SCI concept and its relation to SOC and other soil quality parameters in warm, semiarid regions. We determined the effects of management on SCI, soil organic carbon, and other soil properties in semi-arid, hot, sandy soils in the Southern High Plains (SHP) of western Texas The SCI predicts qualitative changes in SOC in the top 10 cm (4 in) of soils based on the combined effects of three determinants of organic matter as follows: SCI = [OM × (0.4)] + [FO × (0.4)] + [ER × (0.2)], where OM represents the organic material from animal or plant sources produced and returned to the soil, FO signifies field operations including tillage and other field procedures that stimulate organic matter breakdown and decomposition, and ER corresponds to the influences of wind and water erosion. We identified 16 field locations … ER -