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

Abstract

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.

Development of a Spatial Model for Soil Quality Assessment under Arid and Semi-Arid Conditions

“…The spatial trend of soil quality increases from north to east and this trend is consistent with current conditions, as low soil quality in the north may be due to a high percentage of calcium carbonate, a high percentage of sodium exchangeable, high salinity, and low concentration of organic matter and intensive mismanagement practices in agriculture [47] have shown that organic matter, clay, EC, and CEC are the most influential factors in the determination of SQI, confirming the importance of using these parameters in the current study. Developing soil quality classes can minimize agricultural management costs, such as improving soil quality for a slightly moderate class, which may need improvement compared to low-quality soils, and two types of soils need improvement.…”

Soil aggregate structure, stability, and stoichiometric characteristics in a smelter-impacted soil under phytoremediation

“…Differences in plant species did not significantly change soil pH (Table 1). Meanwhile, the roots may have secreted weak organic acid ions, sugars, amino acids, vitamins, and inorganic ions (HCO 3 − , OH − , and H + ), all of which might alter soil pH (Bedolla-rivera et al, 2020). Untreated soil had the highest CaCl 2 extractability (Cu 100 and Cd 0.15 mg kg −1 in 2015) (Table 1).…”

Classification of Soil Quality Index in Irrigated Paddy Fields: Study in Jember, East Java, Indonesia

“…Table 8 is the result of the correlation analysis between soil quality variables. The correlation results show the average correlation value < 0.5, so the relationship between variables is insignificant (Bedolla-Rivera et al, 2020). Two associations have a correlation value > 0.5, namely (1) pH sand and clay;…”

“…The limiting factors are the availability of P and soil texture. These two properties can be improved by adding organic matter rich in P and physically improving soil texture (Bedolla-Rivera et al, 2020). Nutrient P includes slow-release nutrients from organic and inorganic fertilizers (Szulc et al, 2020).…”