"Soil health is a state of a soil meeting its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment."
The overall condition of soil in terms of its physical, chemical, and biological properties, which reflects its ability to sustain plant and animal productivity and maintain ecosystem services.
Soil types: It covers the different types of soil and how they differ in physical and chemical properties, such as texture, structure, and pH.
Soil structure: This topic covers the physical arrangement of soil particles and how it affects soil health, including water management, aeration, and nutrient availability.
Soil chemistry: It covers the chemical properties of soil, including cation exchange capacity, pH, and nutrient cycling.
Soil biology: This topic covers the living organisms in soil, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and earthworms, and how they contribute to soil health and fertility.
Soil fertility: It covers the nutrient requirements for plant growth, including macronutrients and micronutrients, and how soil fertility can be managed to maintain healthy plant growth.
Soil water management: This topic covers the effects of water on soil health and how water management can affect soil structure, water-holding capacity, and nutrient availability.
Soil erosion: It covers the different types of soil erosion and how soil management practices can reduce erosion, including crop rotation and conservation tillage.
Soil conservation: This topic covers the methods for conserving and maintaining soil health, including cover cropping, reduced tillage, and crop rotation.
Soil remediation: It covers the methods for restoring soil health after it has been contaminated with pollutants, including phytoremediation and bioremediation.
Soil testing: This topic covers the methods for testing soil health, including soil pH testing, nutrient testing, and soil texture analysis.
pH: The measure of acidity or alkalinity of the soil.
Organic matter content: The amount of carbon-rich materials that are decomposing in the soil.
Soil structure: The arrangement of soil particles into aggregates, which affects water and air movement through the soil.
Nutrient availability: The presence of essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that plants need to grow.
Water-holding capacity: The ability of the soil to retain moisture for use by plants.
Microbial diversity: The variety of microorganisms present in the soil, which can affect plant health and nutrient cycling.
Soil biodiversity: The variety of organisms living in the soil, including fungi, bacteria, insects, and worms, which contribute to nutrient cycling and soil structure.
Soil compaction: The level of compression of the soil, which affects water and air movement and root growth.
Erosion resistance: The ability of the soil to resist erosion from wind or water.
Biological activity: The amount of activity in the soil, including decomposition, nutrient cycling, and root growth.
"The health of soil arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong together, as in microbiota, plants, and animals."
"It is possible that a soil can be healthy in terms of ecosystem functioning but not necessarily serve crop production or human nutrition directly."
"Soil health depends on soil biodiversity (with a robust soil biota)."
"Soil health can be improved via soil management, especially by care to keep protective living covers on the soil and by natural (carbon-containing) soil amendments."
"Inorganic fertilizers do not necessarily damage soil health if used at appropriate and not excessive rates."
"If inorganic fertilizers bring about a general improvement of overall plant growth, it contributes more carbon-containing residues to the soil."
"Soil health testing is pursued as an assessment of this status but tends to be confined largely to agronomic objectives."
"Soil health arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong together."
"Soil health depends on soil biodiversity and tends to be confined largely to agronomic objectives."
"Soil health can be improved via soil management, especially by keeping protective living covers on the soil."
"Soil health can be improved via natural (carbon-containing) soil amendments."
"Soil health can be improved via soil management, especially by care to keep protective living covers on the soil and by natural (carbon-containing) soil amendments."
"Inorganic fertilizers do damage soil health if used at excessive rates."
"Inorganic fertilizers do not necessarily damage soil health if used at appropriate rates."
"Soil health can be healthy in terms of ecosystem functioning but not necessarily serve crop production or human nutrition directly."
"Soil health arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong together."
"The health of soil arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong together."
"Soil health testing is pursued as an assessment of this status."
"If inorganic fertilizers bring about a general improvement of overall plant growth, it contributes more carbon-containing residues to the soil."