The Dynamics of Soil Quality as a Measure of Sustainable Management

2015 ◽  
pp. 37-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. E. Larson ◽  
F. J. Pierce
Keyword(s):  
Soil Quality ◽  
Sustainable Management

scholarly journals Soil Quality Characterization of Mediterranean Areas under Desertification Risk for the Implementation of Management Schemes Aimed at Land Degradation Neutrality

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Eleonora Grilli ◽  
Elio Coppola ◽  
Tommaso La Mantia ◽  
Micòl Mastrocicco ◽  
Fernando Pulido ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Land Degradation ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Mediterranean Areas ◽  
Desertification Risk

Soil is a key component of ecosystems as it provides fundamental ecosystem functions and services, first of all supporting primary productivity, by physical, chemical and biological interaction with plants. However, soil loss and degradation are at present two of the most critical environmental issues. This phenomenon is particularly critical in Mediterranean areas, where inappropriate land management, in combination with the increasingly harshening of climatic conditions due to Climate Change, is leading to significant land degradation and desertification and is expected to worsen in the future, leading to economic and social crisis. In such areas, it is of fundamental importance to apply sustainable management practices, as conservation/restoration measures, to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality. This approach is at the core of the LIFE project Desert-Adapt “Preparing desertification areas for increased climate change” which is testing a new framework of sustainable land management strategies based on the key concept that the maintenance of ecosystems quality is necessarily connected to economic and social security in these fragile areas. The project will test adaptation strategies and measures in 10 sites of three Mediterranean areas under strong desertification risk, Alentejo in Portugal, Extremadura in Spain and Sicily in Italy. We present the baseline data of soil quality analysis from 32 sites in the 10 study areas of the project. Key drivers of soil quality and quantity were identified and used as basis to select sustainable management strategies focused on the maintenance, improvement and/or recovery of soil-based ecosystem services, with particular attention to climate change adaptation and land productivity. The final objective of the project is to demonstrate, according to the LDN approach, the best adaptation strategies to recover degraded areas from low-productive systems into resource-efficient and low-carbon economies to preserve ecosystem quality and booster economy and social security

scholarly journals A novel soil quality assessment method for sustainable soil management and enhancing crop productivity in tribal areas of central India

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-324
Author(s):  
Rajendiran S. Selladurai ◽  
Mohan Lal Dotaniya ◽  
M Vassanda Coumar ◽  
Samaresh Kundu ◽  
Nishant Kumar Sinha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Quality ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Central India ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Available N ◽  
Tribal Areas

Soil quality degradation is a major threat to any agricultural production system. Therefore periodical monitoring of soil quality status is inevitable for sustainable management of agricultural production systems. Though there are various methods available to assess the soil quality, simple and management oriented methods are necessary. The current investigation aimed to evaluate soil quality of tribal areas of central India adopting minimum dataset of 15 soil physical, chemical and biological parameters. A novel scoring technique was followed to score soil quality indicators based on its relation with crop yield, degree of variation and percent deficiency. Relative soil quality index (RSQI) was calculated and was correlated with crop productivity. Most of the soils in the region had poor soil quality (77.2% in Jhabua, 85.4% in Alirajpur and 67.2% in Dhar) with low crop yield. The major constraints of crop production in these areas were low soil organic carbon (<0.5%), available N (<280 kg ha-1), S (<10 mg kg-1), P (<10 kg ha-1), Zn (<0.5 mg kg-1), dehydogenase activity (10 ?g TPF g-1 24 h-1) and soil depth (<1 m). Adopting sustainable management practices could improve soil quality and crop productivity. This new approach is simple and systematic; this principle can be easily adoptable to other locations, and principally focuses on management related and soil parameters that constraint to production and ecological functions.

Microbial-based soil quality indicators in irrigated and rainfed soil portions of Mediterranean olive and peach orchards under sustainable management

2018 ◽  
Vol 195 ◽  
pp. 172-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Pascazio ◽  
Carmine Crecchio ◽  
Marina Scagliola ◽  
Alba N. Mininni ◽  
Bartolomeo Dichio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Quality ◽  
Quality Indicators ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Soil Quality Indicators

scholarly journals A Field Day to the Long Term Agricultural Research Site

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Kistner
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Reduced Tillage ◽  
Severe Problem

Soil erosion is quickly becoming a severe problem throughout the Midwest and the situation is predicted to worsen unless more sustainable management practices are adopted. Management practices like reduced tillage and cover crops are recommended to help present soil erosion, enhance soil quality, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

scholarly journals QUALIDADE DO SOLO: INDICADORES BIOLÓGICOS PARA UM MANEJO SUSTENTÁVEL / SOIL QUALITY: BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 6853-6875
Author(s):  
Michelangelo de Oliveira Silva ◽  
Magna Pereira dos Santos ◽  
Amanda Cibele da Paz Sousa ◽  
Ranniele Luíza Ventura da Silva ◽  
Ialy Aparecida Angelo de Moura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Quality ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Biological Indicators

scholarly journals Abiotic Soil Health Indicators that Respond to Sustainable Management Practices in Sugarcane Cultivation

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9407
Author(s):  
Camila Viana Vieira Farhate ◽  
Zigomar Menezes de Souza ◽  
Maurício Roberto Cherubin ◽  
Lenon Herique Lovera ◽  
Ingrid Nehmi de Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Quality ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Production Cycle ◽  
Tree Model ◽  
Tillage Systems ◽  
Sunn Hemp ◽  
The Impact

Soil quality (SQ) assessments are fundamental to design more sustainable land uses and management practices. However, SQ is a complex concept and there is not a universal approach to evaluate SQ across different conditions of climate, soil, and cropping system. Large-scale sugarcane production in Brazil is predominantly based on conventional tillage and high mechanization intensity, leading to SQ degradation. Thus through this study, we aim to assess the impact of sustainable management practices, including cover crops and less intensive tillage systems, in relation to the conventional system, using a soil quality index composed of abiotic indicators. Additionally, we developed a decision tree model to predict SQ using a minimum set of variables. The study was conducted in the municipality of Ibitinga, São Paulo, Brazil. The experimental design used was in strips, with four cover crops and three tillage systems. We evaluated three sugarcane cultivation cycles (2015/16, 2016/17, and 2017/18 crops). To calculate the SQ index, we selected five abiotic indicators: macroporosity, potassium content, calcium content, bulk density, and mean weight-diameter of soil aggregates. Based on our SQ index, our findings indicated that the soil quality was driven by the production cycle of sugarcane. Although a reduction of soil quality occurs between the plant cane and first ratoon cane cycles, from the second ratoon cane there is a trend of the gradual restoration of soil quality due to the recovery of both the soil’s physical and chemical attributes. Our study also demonstrated that the cultivation of sunn hemp and millet as cover crops, during the implementation of sugarcane plantation, enhanced soil quality. Due to the advantages provided by the use of these two cover crops, we encourage more detailed and long-term studies, aiming to test the efficiency of intercropping involving sunn hemp and millet during the re-planting of sugarcane.

scholarly journals Earthworms as soil quality indicators: local and scientific knowledge in rice management systems.

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Cláudia Rodrigues de Lima ◽  
Lijbert Brussaard
Keyword(s):  
Soil Quality ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Soil Analysis ◽  
Sustainable Land Management ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Rice Farmers ◽  
Potential Use

Farmers from Camaquã, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, were shown to have a holistic view of the quality of the soil they are cultivating. Progress towards sustainable land management will come from the synergy of both local and formal scientific knowledge. However, the literature on soil quality largely fails to address such integration. The objective of the present work was to highlight the potential use of earthworms in indicating soil quality from a rice farmers’ perspective and using a formal scientific assessment in Camaquã. From a study of local knowledge of farmers and soil analysis it was shown that earthworms are an important component of soil quality. Although the farmers considered that earthworms indicated the quality of their soils, they hardly used them as indicators, due to their limited observation of these animals. A decision-support system to evaluate the options for using earthworms in sustainable management is needed in rice production systems.

scholarly journals A Field Day to the Long Term Agricultural Research Site, Hamilton County, IA

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Kistner
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Reduced Tillage ◽  
Severe Problem

Soil erosion is quickly becoming a severe problem throughout the Midwest and the situation is predicted to worsen unless more sustainable management practices are adopted. Management practices like reduced tillage and cover crops are recommended to help present soil erosion, enhance soil quality, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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