Using of soil quality indicators to assess their production and ecological functions

The project dealt with an evaluation of the soil quality in the Central Bohemian Region in the Czech Republic. The relevant attributes and characteristics were found regarding the soils in this selected area. Based on the data from soil probes, climate characteristics, soil production function and data on the land use, the characteristics, known as soil quality indicators, were selected. Then the soils were sorted into groups which indicated their suitability for the best land use and planning. The characteristics of the soils that contributed the most to the ecosystem services provided by this part of the environment were chosen as the soil quality indicators. In order to find out how the soils are able to provide ecosystem services, two types of approaches were used – the average score and the total amount of points gained. Maps indicating the soil quality were created using the ArcGIS program. At the same time, research on the differences in the quality in two different layers of the soil was carried out. In most cases, there was a decrease in the soil quality with an increasing depth. The results of this project can be used as a basis for a new soil valuation in the Czech Republic.

Approaches towards Land Valuation and Land Pricing under the Influence of Geo-Climate Change

The Czech Republic is more or less unique in its dual system (official and market price) of agricultural land prices. In the case of the market price, there are several studies and approaches that assess the impact of individual variables on the market price of land. If we focus on the official price of land, its value in the Czech Republic is influenced by the evaluated soil ecological unit (ESEU) price. The ESEU price expresses the production potential of the land on the basis of soil quality indicators, which include the climatic region, the main soil unit, slope and exposure and, last but not least, the depth of the soil profile and skeletonisation. Climate change also means that the current values of the definition (e.g., for a climatic region, this refers to the average temperature or average precipitation) do not correspond to reality. No studies have looked in detail at the impact of soil quality indicators or climate change on the price of ESEUs. New and more accurate measurements of soil characteristics are increasing the number of ESEU codes, and prices have not yet been set for some codes. For this reason, we proposed the use of a hedonic method to determine shadow prices, which reflect the intensity and direction of the effect of each input variable on the price of an ESEU. A heteroscedastic corrected linear regression model was used to determine the coefficients, which presents in detail the effect of all included parameters on the final price of an ESEU in the results section. From the results, it was obvious that the shadow price coefficients themselves corresponded to basic generally accepted assumptions regarding the direction of effect. In the conditions of the Czech Republic, a significant influence on the price of an ESEU was mainly the slope with exposure and the depth of the soil profile with skeletonisation. These factors affected the productive capacity of the soil, which, in turn, translated into lower profitability of agricultural entities. The high explanatory ability of the hedonic model, with a high parametric significance for most of the used variables, was an important factor determining the robustness of the model as a repricing tool. The model set according to the prices of the applicable price decree can be used to set the prices of new or not-yet-valued ESEU codes under the conditions in the Czech Republic, or shadow prices can be used during climatic changes in the event of the transfer of the given soil unit to another climate region according to the general specification. It is therefore an important tool for the needs of the public administration.

Response of Potential Indicators of Soil Quality to Land-Use and Land-Cover Change under a Mediterranean Climate in the Region of Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, Libya

Conversion of native lands into agricultural use, coupled with poor land management practices, generally leads to changes in soil properties. Understanding the undesirable effects of land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes on soil properties is essential when planning for sustainable land management. This study was conducted in Al Jabal Al Akhdar region, Libya, to assess the effects of land-use and land-cover changes on soil quality inferred by analyzing the relative changes in 17 chemical, physical, and biological soil properties in the upper layer (0–20 cm) of disturbed and undisturbed soil systems. Soil samples were collected from 180 sampling sites with 60 from each of the three types of LULC prevalent in the study area: natural Mediterranean forests (NMF), rainfed agriculture (RA), and irrigated crops (IC). The soil properties of the two agricultural land uses were compared with soil properties under an adjacent natural forest, which served as a control to assess changes in soil quality resulting from the cultivation of deforested land. The results indicate significant reductions in most soil quality indicators under rainfed agriculture as compared to native forest land. Under irrigated agriculture, there were significant changes (p ≤ 0.05) in most of the soil quality indicators, generally, indicating a significant reduction in soil quality, except for improvement of nitrogen and phosphorus levels due to frequent fertilizer application. Our data support the notion that changes in land use and land cover, in the absence of sustainable management measures, induce deterioration of soil properties and ultimately may lead to land degradation and productivity decline.

Effects of Afforestation on Plant Diversity and Soil Quality in Semiarid SE Spain

Farmland afforestation has been promoted in recent decades and is one of the main strategies included in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to recover degraded areas. However, the impacts of afforestation on plant diversity and soil quality indicators are still not well-understood in semiarid environments. In this study, we assessed the relationships between plant diversity indicators (abundance, total richness, richness by functional groups, and Shannon diversity) and a large number of variables in 48 afforestation sites in southeast Spain. We considered associated environmental factors, such as geographical, climatic or edaphic variables, age, and land-use history. We compared plant diversity and soil properties following land-use change from cereal cropping to afforestation, which is one of the most common land-use changes in Mediterranean areas. Plant diversity in afforested sites was found to be dependent on previous land use, the proximity of natural vegetation, several soil properties (texture, pH, and total nitrogen), and plantation age. Afforested soils showed higher plant diversity and an improvement in edaphic parameters related to multifunctionality in semiarid ecosystems (i.e., soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and potassium) than arable cropped soils.

Evaluation of Soil Quality in Arid Western Fringes of the Nile Delta for Sustainable Agriculture

Egypt is currently witnessing an extensive desert greening plan with a target of adding one and a half million feddans to the agricultural area. The present study evaluates the soil quality in the western desert fringes of the Nile Delta using three indicator datasets, which involve the total dataset (TDS), the minimum dataset (MDS), and the expert dataset (EDS). Three quality index models are included: the Additive Soil Quality Index (SQI-A), the Weighted Additive Soil Quality Index (SQI-W), and the Nemoro Soil Quality Index (SQI-N). Linear and nonlinear scoring functions are evaluated for scoring soil and terrain indicators. Thirteen soil quality indicators and three terrain indicators were measured in 397 sampling sites for soil quality evaluation. Factor analyses determined five soil and terrain indicators for the minimum dataset and their associated weights. The linear scoring functions reflected the soil system functions more than nonlinear scoring functions. Soil quality estimation by the minimum dataset (MDS) and Weighted Additive Soil Quality Index (SQI-W) is more sensitive than that by SQI-A and SQI-N quality models to explain soil quality indicators. The moderate soil quality grade is the largest quality grade in the studied area. The minimum dataset of soil quality indicators could assist in reducing time and cost of evaluating soil quality and monitoring the temporal changes in soil quality of the region due to the increased agricultural development.

Evaluation of Total Organic Carbon Quantity and Emissions of CO2 from Soil Into the Atmosphere Near Street

Soil as an ecosystem is actively involved into climate formation process. Therefore, it is important to assess such soil quality indicators as total organic carbon (TOC) and CO2 emissions. Soil organic matter is considered to be its indicator of quality, which is one of the most important components of biosphere consistency and stability. Soil respiration shows carbon emission from soil into the atmosphere. This is a great indicator, illustrating soil biological activity. Impact of soil temperature, air humidity, time of day was evaluated on CO2 emission from the soil. The highest CO2 emission is observed in afternoon hours, up to 0.201 g CO2∙m–2·h–1.