Resumo

CANTU, Mario Pablo; BECKER, Analía; BEDANO, José Camilo  e  SCHIAVO, Hugo Francisco. Soil quality evaluation using indicators and indices. Cienc. suelo [online]. 2007, vol.25, n.2, pp.173-178. ISSN 1850-2067.

The expansion of agriculture in areas with a certain degree of fragility, make it necessary to evaluate the state of soil system by means of indicators. The aim of this paper was to develop and apply a minimum set of indicators of the state of the resource to assess soil quality in agroecosystems with low to moderate development Mollisols. The methodology was tested in a homogeneous environmental unit (with Typic Hapludolls) under different uses and management systems in a piedmont basin in SW Córdoba province. Quality ranges were established for the measured properties (organic carbon, pH, base saturation, water stable aggregates, infiltration rate, bulk density, A horizon depth) to normalize the indicators. Selected indicators constitute a minimum number of variables with a high aggregation degree, easy to measure and repeatable, representing the local conditions. These soil resource state indicators are not universal since they were selected in function of the environment and soil type in the studied region.

Palavras-chave : Physical, chemical and physicochemical properties; Minimum set; Degradation.

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