Indicators for assessment of soil quality: a mini-review
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Indicators for assessment of soil quality: a mini-review Swati Maurya & Jeeva Susan Abraham & Sripoorna Somasundaram & Ravi Toteja & Renu Gupta & Seema Makhija
Received: 18 May 2020 / Accepted: 16 August 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Soil quality is the competence of soil to perform necessary functions that are able to maintain animal and plant productivity of the soil. Soil consists of various physical, chemical, and biological parameters, and all these parameters are involved in the critical functioning of soil. There is a need for continuous assessment of soil quality as soil is a complex and dynamic constituent of Earth’s biosphere that is continuously changing by natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Any perturbations in the soil cause disturbances in the physical (soil texture, bulk density, etc.), chemical (pH, salinity, organic carbon, etc.), and biological (microbes and enzymes) parameters. These physical, chemical, and biological parameters can serve as indicators for soil quality assessment. However, soil quality assessment cannot be possible by evaluating only one parameter out of physical, chemical, or biological. So, there is an emergent need to establish a minimum dataset (MDS) which shall include physical, chemical, and biological parameters to assess the quality of the given soil. This review attempts to describe various physical, chemical, and biological parameters,
S. Maurya : J. S. Abraham : S. Somasundaram : R. Toteja : S. Makhija (*) Department of Zoology, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, Govindpuri, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110019, India e-mail: [email protected] R. Gupta Department of Zoology, Maitreyi College, University of Delhi, Bapu dham, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021, India
combinations of which can be used in the establishment of MDS. Keywords Agro-ecological . Biological indicators . Chemical indicators . Multiomics approach . Physical indicators . Soil enzymes
Introduction Soil quality is defined as the capacity of soil to fulfill ecological functions and provide ecosystem services to maintain biological productivity and environmental quality and enhance the plant and animal health (Joimel et al. 2017; Bunemann et al. 2018). Resistance and quick recovery to perturbations (natural or manmade) is a characteristic of healthy soil (Schaeffer et al. 2016). The more accurate and better soil assessment can be provided by the integration of various factors such as physical, chemical, biological, and enzymatic activity (Liao et al. 2014). These factors should be used in combination as indicators of soil quality assessment (Liao et al. 2014). Natural disturbances and agricultural practices such as tillage, irrigation, burning, and application of pesticides and fertilizers cause an imbalance in physical and chemical parameters such as soil texture, soil moisture, pH, and organic matter (Vallejo et al. 2012). Organic matter also serves as an important indicator for determining soil fertility and soil health (Anikwe 2006; Obalum et al. 2017). Soi
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