Deficiencies in the soil quality concept and its application

Soil quality is a concept that has deeply divided the soil science community. It has been institutionalized and advocated without full consideration of concept weaknesses and contradictions. Our paper highlights its disfunctional definition, flawed approach to quantification, and failure to integrate simultaneous functions, which often require contradictory soil properties and/or management. While the concept arose from a call to protect the environment and sustain the soil resource, soil quality indexing as implemented may actually impair some soil functions, environmental quality, or other societal priorities. We offer the alternative view that emphasis on known principles of soil management is a better expenditure of limited resources for soil stewardship than developing and deploying subjective indices which fail to integrate across the necessary spectrum of management outcomes. If the soil quality concept is retained, we suggest precisely specifying soil use, not function or capacity, as the criteria for attribute evaluation. Emphasis should be directed toward using available technical information to motivate and educate farmers on management practices that optimize the combined goals of high crop production, low environmental degradation, and a sustained resource

Deficiencies in the soil quality concept and its application

Soil quality is a concept that has deeply divided the soil science community. It has been institutionalized and advocated without full consideration of concept weaknesses and contradictions. Our paper highlights its disfunctional definition, flawed approach to quantification, and failure to integrate simultaneous functions, which often require contradictory soil properties and/or management. While the concept arose from a call to protect the environment and sustain the soil resource, soil quality indexing as implemented may actually impair some soil functions, environmental quality, or other societal priorities. We offer the alternative view that emphasis on known principles of soil management is a better expenditure of limited resources for soil stewardship than developing and deploying subjective indices which fail to integrate across the necessary spectrum of management outcomes. If the soil quality concept is retained, we suggest precisely specifying soil use, not function or capacity, as the criteria for attribute evaluation. Emphasis should be directed toward using available technical information to motivate and educate farmers on management practices that optimize the combined goals of high crop production, low environmental degradation, and a sustained resource

Rotação de culturas para trigo, após quatro anos: efeitos na fertilidade do solo em plantio direto Crop rotation systems for wheat, after four years: effects on soil fertility under no-tillage

A fertilidade do solo foi avaliada, após quatro anos (1990 a 1994), num latossolo bruno álico, em Guarapuava, PR, Brasil, em quatro sistemas de rotação de culturas para trigo: sistema I (trigo/soja); sistema II (trigo/soja e aveia branca/soja); sistema III (trigo/soja, ervilhaca/ milho e aveia branca/soja); e sistema IV (trigo/soja, aveia branca/soja, cevada/soja e ervilhaca/ milho). As culturas, tanto de inverno como de verão, foram estabelecidas sob plantio direto. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos ao acaso com quatro repetições. Através de contrastes, foram comparados os sistemas e as profundidades de amostragem de solo. Em todos os sistemas de rotação de culturas, na camada de solo 0 a 5cm, observaram-se valores maiores de pH e de Ca+Mg e menores de Al (com exceção do sistema III), em relação à camada 15 a 20cm. Houve elevação dos teores de Ca+Mg, de K e de P na camada de solo com a maior concentração de raízes (0 a 10cm). Os valores de matéria orgânica do solo decresceram progressivamente da camada 0 a 5cm para a camada 15 a 20cm.<br>Soil fertility parameters were evaluated after four years (1990 to 1994) on a alic dusky latosol located in Guarapuava, Paraná, Brazil, under four wheat crop rotation systems as follows: system I (wheat/soybean); system II (wheat/soybean and white oats/soybean); system III (wheat/soybean, common vetch/corn, and white oats/soybean); and system IV (wheat/soybean, white oats/soybean, barley/soybean and common vetch/cor). Both winter and summer crops were seeded under no tillage. A randomized complete block design, with four replications, was used. Crop systems and soil samples at different depths were compared using the contrast procedure. All crop rotation systems, in the 0 to 5cm soil layer, higher values were observed for pH in water and Ca+Mg and lower contents for Al (except system III), as compared to the 15 to 20cm layer. Raising in Ca+Mg, K, and P levels occurred in the soil layer with the greatest root concentration (0 to 10cm). The soil organic matter contents decreased with depth from 0-5cm to 15-20cm