Soil Health Indicators: Methods and Applications

Raghavendra, M. P.; Sharma, Mahaveer P.; Ramesh, Aketi; Richa, A.; Billore, S. D.; Verma, Rakesh Kumar

doi:10.1007/978-981-15-2039-6_13

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 153 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Soil‐based restoration field studies should explore the effects of restoration on microbial community metrics, as these soil health metrics were much less commonly reported than abiotic soil characteristics and are very important indicators of soil health (Raghavendra et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Volumetric water content, which was the most reported measure of soil moisture, indicates water availability to plants and microbes and influences aeration (Voroney, 2019). Organic carbon and nitrogen are essential nutrients for plants and microbes, and are therefore major aspects of soil health (Raghavendra et al, 2020). Lastly, mycorrhizal colonization and basal respiration are both ways to quantify the presence of beneficial microbes in the soil that can be integral in aiding plant nutrient uptake (Raghavendra et al, 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Soil restoration increases soil health across global drylands: A meta‐analysis

Kimmell,

Fagan,

Havrilla

2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Soil degradation is one of the greatest environmental issues our planet faces today, with over 33% of Earth's soils currently degraded. Drylands are especially vulnerable to soil degradation given their history of intensive land use and desertification. Active soil restoration has been identified as a leading strategy to combat soil degradation and promote ecosystem recovery. However, soil‐based dryland restoration techniques have shown varying success, potentially due to a lack of understanding of the ecological contexts in which soil‐based treatments are most beneficial. To improve our understanding of how to best use active soil restoration to restore degraded drylands, we conducted a global meta‐analysis of soil treatment effectiveness at improving soil health across varying environmental gradients. The soil health metrics we analysed were aggregate stability, bulk density, soil moisture, soil organic carbon (SOC), soil nitrogen, mycorrhizal colonization and basal respiration. For this meta‐analysis we collected 155 publications, yielding 1403 unique studies spanning six continents. We found that overall, soil restoration had a beneficial effect on all measures of soil health ranging from a +11% increase in bulk density (inverse) to a +6967% increase in mycorrhizal colonization. Aridity and soil texture greatly influenced restoration effectiveness for certain soil health metrics. Specifically, for soil carbon and nitrogen, restoration was found to be most effective in arid, fine‐textured soils and mesic, coarse‐textured soils. Additionally, we found that organic amendments were most effective at increasing SOC, while fungi inoculation was most effective at increasing mycorrhizal colonization. Synthesis and applications: Our findings indicate that active soil restoration is an effective tool for increasing soil health and provide information on optimal treatments and site conditions for improving certain aspects of soil health. This could greatly help inform decision‐making, and thus improve outcomes, in dryland restoration worldwide.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil restoration increases soil health across global drylands: A meta‐analysis

Kimmell,

Fagan,

Havrilla

2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Microbial properties can be considered good and quick-response indicators of soil quality [7], although they are still little assessed in studies evaluating soil conservation techniques. The metabolic activity of the microbiota can be detected before some significant evidence of change in the soil physical and chemical properties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiological Properties in Cropping Systems and Their Relationship with Water Erosion in the Brazilian Cerrado

Merlo

Avanzi

Silva

et al. 2022

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many researchers have reported relationships of physical and chemical properties with water erosion; however, little is known about microbiological properties in this context. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate soil properties in relation to erosion in areas with different cropping system practices under no-tillage in the Brazilian Cerrado. The experiment has been carried out since 2014 in a Typic Haplustox under soybean (S) and maize (M) monoculture, maize/soybean annual rotation (MS), maize/brachiaria/soybean/brachiaria rotation (MBSB), two of those treatments with high input of fertilizer (MBSB-HI and MS-HI), and bare soil (BS). Soil losses were quantified in erosion plots. The design was completely randomized. The greater vegetation cover crop, provided by intercropping/succession with brachiaria, increased microbial biomass carbon. The lack of vegetation cover affected the basal soil respiration and metabolic quotient. Basal soil respiration proved to be inversely related to soil and water losses. Vegetation cover was a key factor regulating water erosion. Penetration resistance and aggregate stability correlated with soil and water losses. Thus, not only physical and chemical, but also biological properties are deeply affected by erosion, aiding in early monitoring of water erosion. Soil quality improvement in ecologically supported management contributes to mitigating erosion.

show abstract

“…The management of soil to improve soil health is vital to preserving the nation's agricultural food security and production (Lal, 2016). Soil health assessment includes physical, chemical and biological properties (Guo, 2020;Kibblewhite et al, 2008;Lal, 2016;Raghavendra et al, 2020). Soil structure changes caused by traditional farming methods usually cause soil degradation; thus, infiltration and water retention problems arise as soil porosity changes (Sá et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simple method of coffee-shrub biochar-ozonolysis

Lamboy¹,

Dumas²,

Chong³

et al. 2022

JAUPR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biochar, the pyrolysis product of carbon-rich biomass, renders climate benefits because it helps to sequester carbon in soil. Biochar also improves soil health because it increases the nutrient retention capacity in topsoil, improving aggregate stability and water holding capacity. These benefits contribute to agricultural production because biochar provides a good substrate for nourishing root growth and plant health, thereby contributing to the nation’s food security. Biochar’s contribution depends on the quantity and type of oxygen-containing functional groups. These functional groups are determinants in biochar interactions with nutrients and redox reactions. This study aims to develop a simple and economical method to improve biochar’s agronomic traits through ozonolysis. We evaluated ozonolysis reaction time to oxidize a washed and unwashed coffee shrub biochar (WCSB and CSB, respectively). After the exposure of WCSB and CSB to ozone at different intervals, data from both collected by the FTIR-ATR spectra showed that the bands increased in intensity from 3331 to 3441 cm-1 (O-H band) and 1585 cm-1 (carbonyl functional group band). Besides, we observed a decrease in pH and an increase in specific conductance and soluble organic carbon content with the elapsing time of ozonolysis, demonstrating the effectiveness of ozonolysis in the oxidation of the biochar surface. The increase in the E4/E6 ratio suggests that the saturated products from the ozonolysis process increase with time due to the breakdown of the labile organic carbon and the formation of the functional groups of soluble acidic oxygen bonds through the breakdown of the double bonds of carbon. Furthermore, the results indicated that it is unnecessary to wash the biochar before subjecting it to the ozonolysis process.

show abstract

Soil Health Indicators: Methods and Applications

Cited by 12 publications

References 153 publications

Soil restoration increases soil health across global drylands: A meta‐analysis

Soil restoration increases soil health across global drylands: A meta‐analysis

Microbiological Properties in Cropping Systems and Their Relationship with Water Erosion in the Brazilian Cerrado

Simple method of coffee-shrub biochar-ozonolysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About