Soil quality
Encyclopedia
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre proposed a definition, stating that
Soil quality is an account of the soil’s ability to provide ecosystem and social services through its capacities to perform its functions under changing conditions.


According to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Natural Resources Conservation Service
The Natural Resources Conservation Service , formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service , is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and managers.Its name was changed in 1994 during the Presidency of...

,
Soil quality is the capacity of a specific kind of soil to function, within natural or managed ecosystem boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and support human health and habitation.


Soil quality is said to be a measure of the condition of soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...

 relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose.

Soil quality reflects how well a soil performs the functions of maintaining biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...

 and productivity, partitioning water and solute flow, filtering and buffering, nutrient
Nutrient
A nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment. They are used to build and repair tissues, regulate body processes and are converted to and used as energy...

 cycling, and providing support for plants and other structures. Soil management
Soil management
Soil management concerns all operations, practices and treatments used to protect soil and enhance its performance.-Practices:Soil management practices that affect soil quality:...

 has a major impact on soil quality.

See also

  • Dryland salinity
    Dryland salinity
    Dryland salinity is salinity that occurs in a landscape that is not irrigated, as distinct from irrigation salinity and urban salinity.-Overview:...

  • Environmental soil science
    Environmental soil science
    Environmental soil science is the study of the interaction of humans with the pedosphere as well as critical aspects of the biosphere, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, and the atmosphere...

  • Soil biodiversity
    Soil biodiversity
    This discussion looks at the relationship of the soil to biodiversity, at some aspects of the soil that can be managed in relation to biodiversity, and raises some catchment management considerations.-Soil and biodiversity:...

  • Soil carbon
    Soil carbon
    Soil carbon is the generic name for carbon held within the soil, primarily in association with its organic content. Soil carbon is the largest terrestrial pool of carbon. Humans have, and will likely continue to have, significant impacts on the size of this pool...

  • Soil health
    Soil health
    Soil health is an assessment of ability of a soil to meet its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment.- Aspects of soil health :The term soil health is used to assess the ability of a soil to:...

  • Soil policy (Victoria, Australia)
    Soil policy (Victoria, Australia)
    This outlines soil policy in the State of Victoria, Australia. A policy, for this purpose, is a principle or course of action adopted or proposed by a definable group of people.-Overview:...

  • Soil resilience
    Soil resilience
    Soil resilience refers to the ability of a soil to resist or recover their healthy state in response to destabilising influences - this is a subset of a notion of environmental resilience...

  • Soil structure
    Soil structure
    Soil structure is determined by how individual soil granules clump or bind together and aggregate, and therefore, the arrangement of soil pores between them...

  • Soil water (retention)
    Soil water (retention)
    Soils can process and contain considerable amounts of water. They can take in water, and will keep doing so until they are full, or the rate at which they can transmit water into, and through, the pores is exceeded. Some of this water will steadily drain through the soil and end up in the...

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