Towards an ecological index for tropical soil quality based on soil macrofauna

The objective of this work was to construct a simple index based on the presence/absence of different groups of soil macrofauna to determine the ecological quality of soils. The index was tested with data from 20 sites in South and Central Tabasco, Mexico, and a positive relation between the model and the field observations was detected. The index showed that diverse agroforestry systems had the highest soil quality index (1.00), and monocrops without trees, such as pineapple, showed the lowest soil quality index (0.08). Further research is required to improve this model for natural systems that have very low earthworm biomass (<10 g m-2) and a high number of earthworm species (5-7), as it is in the tropical rain forest, whose soil quality index was medium (0.5). The application of this index will require an illustrated guide for its users. Further studies are required in order to test the use of this index by farmers.

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SOC dynamics and soil quality index of agroforestry systems in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil

Geoderma Regional ◽

10.1016/j.geodrs.2015.02.003 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 15-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

A. Thomazini ◽

E.S. Mendonça ◽

I.M. Cardoso ◽

M.L. Garbin

Keyword(s):

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Agroforestry Systems ◽

Atlantic Rainforest ◽

Soil Quality Index

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Assessing the soil quality of alpine grasslands in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau using a modified soil quality index

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ◽

10.1007/s10661-013-3151-1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 185 (10) ◽

pp. 8011-8022 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Yuanyuan Li ◽

Shikui Dong ◽

Lu Wen ◽

Xuexia Wang ◽

Yu Wu

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Alpine Grasslands ◽

Soil Quality Index ◽

Modified Soil

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Environmental soil quality index and indicators for a coal mining soil

Solid Earth Discussions ◽

10.5194/sed-7-617-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 617-638 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

R. E. Masto ◽

S. Sheik ◽

G. Nehru ◽

V. A. Selvi ◽

J. George ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Coal Mining ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Underground Mining ◽

Principal Component ◽

Soil Parameters ◽

Soil Quality Index ◽

Mining Sites ◽

Opencast Mine

Abstract. Assessment of soil quality is one of the key parameters for evaluation of environmental contamination in the mining ecosystem. To investigate the effect of coal mining on soil quality, opencast and underground mining sites were selected in the Raniganj Coafield area, India. The physical, chemical, biological parameters, heavy metals, and PAHs contents of the soils were evaluated. Soil dehydrogenase (+79%) and fluorescein (+32%) activities were significantly higher in underground mine (UGM) soil, whereas peroxidase activity (+57%) was higher in opencast mine (OCM) soil. Content of As, Be, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Pb was significantly higher in OCM soil, whereas, Cd was higher in UGM. In general, the PAHs contents were higher in UGM soils probably due to the natural coal burning in these sites. The observed values for the above properties were converted into a unit less score (0–1.00) and the scores were integrated into environmental soil quality index (ESQI). In the unscreened index (ESQI-1) all the soil parameters were included and the results showed that the quality of the soil was better for UGM (0.539) than the OCM (0.511) soils. Principal component analysis was employed to derive ESQI-2 and accordingly, total PAHs, loss on ignition, bulk density, Be, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb, and microbial quotient (respiration: microbial biomass ratio) were found to be the most critical properties. The ESQI-2 was also higher for soils near UGM (+10.1%). The proposed ESQI may be employed to monitor soil quality changes due to anthropogenic interventions.

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Stimulating the efficient use of agricultural land based on the improved methodology for land tax calculation

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202124403013 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 244 ◽

pp. 03013

Author(s):

Uzbekkhon Mukhtorov

Keyword(s):

Soil Fertility ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Agricultural Lands ◽

Soil Quality Index ◽

Land Taxation ◽

Negative Condition ◽

Normative Value

Article develops recommendations for the use of reducing (incentive) coefficients in land tax calculation of on agricultural lands, taking into account the quality of land and interrelation between an increase and decrease in soil fertility, which leads to an increase in land tax. In calculating land taxation, this is formed based on the normative value of agricultural land. The calculation of the normative value of agricultural land is inextricably linked with the soil quality index (SQI), which determines the fertility of the soil. As decreasing and increasing coefficients in the growth of productivity in 11 agriultural farms of “Pakhtaobod” massif of Nishan adiminstrative district of Kashkadarya province, when the normative value changed for the better, the amount of land tax decreased by 18.933.000 UZS (19.5%) and in 10 agriсultural farms the increase in the amount of land tax by 7.070.820 UZS (15.8%) in the negative condition.

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Development of a Soil Quality Index for Soils under Different Agricultural Management Conditions in the Central Lowlands of Mexico: Physicochemical, Biological and Ecophysiological Indicators

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12229754 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (22) ◽

pp. 9754

Author(s):

Héctor Iván Bedolla-Rivera ◽

María de la Luz Xochilt Negrete-Rodríguez ◽

Miriam del Rocío Medina-Herrera ◽

Francisco Paúl Gámez-Vázquez ◽

Dioselina Álvarez-Bernal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Agricultural Soils ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

Principal Component ◽

Agricultural Management ◽

Soil Quality Index ◽

Agricultural Industry ◽

Data Variability

The Bajío—Mexico’s central lowlands—is a region of economic importance because of its agricultural industry. Over time, agricultural practices have led to soil deterioration, loss of fertility, and abandonment. In this study, six agricultural soils were analyzed: AGQ, CTH, CTJ, JRM, CRC, and CYI, and used to develop a soil quality index (SQI) that includes the use of physicochemical, biological, and ecophysiological indicators to differentiate soil quality. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used, reducing the indicators from 46 to 4, which represents 80.4% of data variability. It was implemented the equation of additive weights using the variance of the principal components as a weight factor for the SQI. The developed SQI was according to the indicators WHC, SLT, N-NO3−, and qCO2, differentiating the quality of soils from the agricultural management in low quality (JRM < CYI < AGQ) and moderate quality (CTJ < CRC < CTH). The use of biological and ecophysiological indicators added to the PCA and the equation of additive weights allowed establishing an SQI with a minimum of indicators, sensitive to agricultural management, facilitating its interpretation and implementation for the Mexican Bajío region and soils in similar conditions around the world.

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Aggregate Indices Method in Soil Quality Evaluation Using the Relative Soil Quality Index

Applied and Environmental Soil Science ◽

10.1155/2015/253729 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ho Ngoc Pham ◽

Hai Xuan Nguyen ◽

Anh Ngoc Nguyen ◽

Diep Ngoc Tran

Keyword(s):

Soil Quality ◽

Environmental Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Laboratory Data ◽

Environmental Standards ◽

Soil Quality Index ◽

New Approach ◽

The Individual

This paper presents a new approach to assess the soil quality by aggregate indices using the Relative Soil Quality Index (RSQI) proposed by Ho Ngoc Pham. RSQI is integrated from the individual indices into a simple formula for overall assessment of the soil quality. RSQI is different from other approaches. Particularly, the individual indices and the weighting factors of Pham are calculated from the analytical laboratory data and the environmental standards, respectively, and not self-regulated as in methods of some other authors. In this paper, the authors applied the RSQI to assess the Soil Environmental Quality of rice intensive cultivation areas through a case study in Haiduong province in 2013. The RSQI is calculated for sampling points in 12 districts and simulated the Soil Environmental Quality on GIS map. The results show that the Soil Environmental Quality of rice intensive cultivation areas in Haiduong is predominantly divided into three levels: good, moderate, and poor. According to the report of General Statistics Office for Haiduong province, rice intensive cultivation areas in 2013 achieved a relatively high average rice yield of 5.90 tonnes per hectare; it means actual soil properties are in line with results of the research.

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Soil vital signs: A new Soil Quality Index (SQI) for assessing forest soil health

10.2737/rmrs-rp-65 ◽

2007 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Michael C. Amacher ◽

Katherine P. O'Neil ◽

Charles H. Perry

Keyword(s):

Forest Soil ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Soil Health ◽

Vital Signs ◽

Soil Quality Index

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A new approach to elaborate a multifunctional soil quality index

Journal of Soils and Sediments ◽

10.1007/bf02991142 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 201-204 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Giancarlo Barbiroli ◽

Giovanni Casalicchio ◽

Andrea Raggi

Keyword(s):

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Soil Quality Index ◽

New Approach

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Land Degradation Vulnerability Mapping in a Newly-Reclaimed Desert Oasis in a Hyper-Arid Agro-Ecosystem Using AHP and Geospatial Techniques

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11071426 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 1426

Author(s):

Ahmed S. Abuzaid ◽

Mohamed A. E. AbdelRahman ◽

Mohamed E. Fadl ◽

Antonio Scopa

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Land Degradation ◽

Quality Index ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Western Desert ◽

Soil Quality Index ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Sensing Data

Modelling land degradation vulnerability (LDV) in the newly-reclaimed desert oases is a key factor for sustainable agricultural production. In the present work, a trial for usingremote sensing data, GIS tools, and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was conducted for modeling and evaluating LDV. The model was then applied within 144,566 ha in Farafra, an inland hyper-arid Western Desert Oases in Egypt. Data collected from climate conditions, geological maps, remote sensing imageries, field observations, and laboratory analyses were conducted and subjected to AHP to develop six indices. They included geology index (GI), topographic quality index (TQI), physical soil quality index (PSQI), chemical soil quality index (CSQI), wind erosion quality index (WEQI), and vegetation quality index (VQI). Weights derived from the AHP showed that the effective drivers of LDV in the studied area were as follows: CSQI (0.30) > PSQI (0.29) > VQI (0.17) > TQI (0.12) > GI (0.07) > WEQI (0.05). The LDV map indicated that nearly 85% of the total area was prone to moderate degradation risks, 11% was prone to high risks, while less than 1% was prone to low risks. The consistency ratio (CR) for all studied parameters and indices were less than 0.1, demonstrating the high accuracy of the AHP. The results of the cross-validation demonstrated that the performance of ordinary kriging models (spherical, exponential, and Gaussian) was suitable and reliable for predicting and mapping soil properties. Integrated use of remote sensing data, GIS, and AHP would provide an effective methodology for predicting LDV in desert oases, by which proper management strategies could be adopted to achieve sustainable food security.

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